All's Fair in Love and War
by thequeenofpearls
Summary: Hans gets sent to Arendelle to redeem himself, only to find the kingdom on the brink of war. Now he has to prove to the Queen and Princess of Arendelle that he is a good person also while helping out with the war. Can he do it? And will the sisters forgive him? Mostly Helsa. Some Kristanna. Disclaimer: Frozen belongs to Disney.
1. Prologue

**Prologue:**

The Queen of the Southern Isles sat and watched anxiously as her husband paced the floor of their chambers. It had been a year since Hans had disgraced his family name and nearly destroyed all ties with Arendelle forever. Although trade between the two kingdoms continued, the tension between the two was still _very_ noticeable. Queen Elsa had been fair with the Southern Isles by keeping trade open with the realm, despite many protests from the Arendellian council, but it was obvious she was still very angry with the youngest Prince (well, former prince now) and even more frustrated with the king and queen that they did not give the Prince a proper punishment or trial for his actions. No, Elsa didn't want him dead, she wasn't that kind of person. But she had hoped he'd receive a better punishment than house arrest and stripping him of his title. After expressing her concerns to the king and queen of the Southern Isles, they began to think of a better punishment for their son that wouldn't involve execution. And since the queen had refused exile (much to her elder sons' objections), the monarchs felt lost.

The king had been pacing so much, that he had begun to wear a hole in the rug that lay beneath his feet.

His wife noticed this. "Magnus," she said, quietly.

He didn't respond. "Magnus." she said, more firmly now. King Magnus stopped and looked at his wife.

He sighed. "I don't know what to do, Lila. I've never felt more at a crossroads."

The queen stood up and walked over to her husband and put a hand on his shoulder. "I know. I feel the same. I'm just trying to understand why he felt the need to do what he did…" she trailed off.

Her king nodded and flopped down into a chair in the corner, very un-monarchy like but he didn't care. Lila sat at his feet and looked up at her conflicted husband. If only there was some way that Hans could make up his actions to the Queen and Princess of Arendelle while redeeming himself and his name…

Then it came to her. "Magnus! I have an idea!"

"What is it?" He asked, eagerly.

"We write a letter to Queen Elsa, requesting that she allow Hans back into Arendelle to apologize personally. If she agrees, I'll go with him and request a chance to speak with the queen in private and ask her if she would be willing to allow Hans to redeem himself."

Magnus encouraged his queen to continue. She took a breath. "She'll obviously want to know what I have in mind. My idea is that she place him among her people as a commoner. He'll get a job and learn to live on his own without anyone to bail him out. It will mellow him out and bring down his ego. It can allow him to earn the trust of her people and maybe even make a few genuine friendships. Once he earns their trust, maybe, just maybe, she'll allow him to prove himself to her and her sister. If he redeems himself to them, then he can redeem himself to his own people."

The king looked at his wife for what seemed like forever before he shook his head.

"Lila," he began.

"I know it's a long shot," she interrupted, "but what other choice do we have? Besides, I'm sure Queen Elsa would appreciate an apology. Please, trust me on this."

He looked into the big green eyes of his wife; the same green eyes that belonged to his youngest son. The king sighed. "Alright, send the letter. Just don't get your hopes up about anything. Her Majesty may be a fair queen but that doesn't mean that she won't turn down your offer."

"I'm willing to take the chance anyway." Queen Lila said, standing up. With her new found confidence, she left her husband sitting in his chair while she went to write the letter that would, hopefully, give her youngest son one last chance at redemption.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1:**

Elsa reread the letter for what felt like the hundredth time but had only been the fifth. She couldn't believe what she was reading. A faraway kingdom called Nordstrom was threatening war against Arendelle. And all because they saw _her_ as a threat. The letter called for Elsa to surrender herself and her kingdom to Nordstrom within two weeks or they would be at war. Elsa didn't know anything about this country except the stories that her father used to tell her about it being a great kingdom where even greater warriors were bred. If the stories of the kingdom were true, then Arendelle was in _huge _trouble.

_Where is Anna when I need her?_ she thought, urgently. Elsa had sent for her sister as soon as she had read the letter the first time, but Anna had been out visiting the townspeople and wouldn't return until later. Anna was the only one who could keep Elsa calm when she was stressed about something.

Over the past year, the sisters had grown very close, very quickly. Despite their separation from their younger years, Anna welcomed her big sister back into her life with open arms and they have been inseparable since. Elsa enjoyed having her sister back in her life, especially since she always had something new to say so there was never a dull moment. But years of solitude still came back to haunt Elsa and every now and then, and Anna would have to remind her that it was okay to open up to people. Despite Anna's attempts, however, the only person Elsa had completely opened up to was her, her sister's boyfriend Kristoff, and their trusted snowman friend Olaf. Otherwise, the Snow Queen was still as mysterious to everyone else as before. Which was fine with her. She liked being able to leave people guessing. What good would the Snow Queen be if she was predictable?

By this point, she had stood up from her desk and began pacing back and forth in front of the fireplace. Although she needed to speak with her council and Captain of the Guard immediately, she wanted - no, _needed_ - to consult her sister first before facing her royal officials. She was beginning to get frustrated and a small flurry began to appear above her head. _Crap,_ she thought. _Control yourself, Elsa. Anna will be here soon. Don't let them get to you._

She kept repeating that thought in an attempt to calm herself but she couldn't; she was too on edge. Finally, she couldn't keep it in anymore and let out a burst of ice into the fireplace, releasing her frustration. She hated using her powers for negative reasons but she figured, under the circumstances, she was allowed to, this once.

Afterwards, she took a deep breath in order to let her think clearly. The flurry above her head was gone but the fireplace was completely covered in ice and snow. She blew a piece of hair from her face before dissolving the ice. Right as the fireplace was returned to it's former glory, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," she called, her voice a bit shaky from the letter's contents and exerting so much energy.

Her advisor, Erik, poked his head in. "Pardon me, Your Majesty, but your sister has returned."

_Finally!_ she thought. "Send her in."

The door opened wider and Anna skipped in, closing the door behind her. "Hi Elsa! Sorry I'm late, I - what's wrong?"

"What makes you think something's wrong?" Elsa asked, sitting back down at her desk, trying to brush off the nervous feeling in her stomach.

Anna raised an eyebrow and put her hands on her hips. "Elsa, come on. I'm your sister. I can tell when something's wrong with you. Now tell me."

Elsa sighed. "Sit down, Anna." She complied.

"What do you remember about those stories that Papa used to tell us about a kingdom called Nordstrom?" she began.

Anna thought for a moment. "It was some huge military kingdom right? Like all the great warriors from history were from there or something?"

Her sister nodded. "What about it?" Anna asked.

Elsa hesitated before speaking. "Nordstrom has declared war on Arendelle."

"WHAT?!" Anna screeched. "Why? What did we do? What do they want?!"

"Apparently, they see me as a threat. They sent me a letter that said 'due to the events in the past year, we' - we being Nordstrom - 'have no other choice but to demand Arendelle's surrender to our kingdom within two weeks. If you refuse, then Arendelle and Nordstrom will be at war.'"

"What are they talking about 'the events in the past year?!' Nothing happened! We haven't done anything to them!"

"Think about it, Anna. What happened last year that caused major panic?"

Anna sat back in her chair and leaned her head back. "The Great Freeze," she breathed out.

"Exactly," Elsa replied. "One of Nordstrom's diplomats was here when everything happened. If I understand everything correctly, when he returned he spoke with the king and must have made me sound like some sort of evil sorceress. Now they see me as a threat and want Arendelle to surrender."

Anna heaved a sigh. "What do we do?"

Elsa put her head in her hands, the small flurry appearing above her head again. "I don't know, Anna. I've never dealt with something like this before. I'm pretty sure Papa didn't either. I don't want Arendelle to go to war with Nordstrom; we can't afford it! And I can't put my people at risk, _especially_ after what happened last year and I- I-" Elsa began to cry, causing it to start snowing in the room.

Anna came around the desk and put a comforting arm around her sister's shoulders.

"Shh…" she said, softly. "It's okay. It'll all be okay. We'll figure something out. I promise."

The snow began to diminish as Anna continued to sooth her sister; however, Elsa kept her head in her hands. "Elsa?" Anna said.

Elsa turned her head towards her sister. "Hmm?"

"Do you wanna build a snowman?" Anna asked, a small smile creeping up on her lips.

Elsa couldn't help but chuckle at her sister's attempt to make her feel better. She lifted her head from her hands. "Not now, but later. I promise." She said smiling. Anna hugged her sister, pleased that she was feeling slightly better.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Anna let go of her sister and returned to her seat as Elsa straightened her posture, fixed her make-up, and dissolved what was left of the snow before saying: "Yes?"

The door opened and a young woman walked in holding a tray with a letter on it. "A letter just came in for you, Your Majesty."

"Thank you Hanna." Elsa said, taking the letter. She waited until the young woman left the room until she looked at the letter, raising her eyebrows.

"What?" Anna asked, curiously.

"It's from the Queen of the Southern Isles…" Elsa responded, opening up the envelope.

As she read, her eyes widened so much that they could've popped out of her head. When she was done she put the letter down and leaned back in her chair, her mind churning with a million things at once.

"What is it, Elsa?" Anna asked. "What does the queen want?"

Elsa looked at her sister, an idea coming into her head. "We need to arrange a meeting with the Council. _Now._"


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: **

Despite it being so short notice, the Council arrived quickly and sat down in their respective places in the meeting room with Elsa at the head of the table and Anna on her right. She had also invited her Captain of the Guard, Ivan, to the meeting, considering he would need to know what was going to happen after Elsa announced her not-so-great news. As soon as everyone was settled, Elsa wasted no time getting down to business.

"I have called you here, my Lords and Captain, because I have received a very disturbing letter from the kingdom of Nordstrom." she began. "It appears that a diplomat was here last year during my coronation and the… events afterwards last year. What I have pieced together is that this diplomat returned to Nordstrom, told their king of the events here in Arendelle and now they see me as a threat. They are calling for us to surrender within two weeks."

There was a concerned mumbling among the councilmembers. "What happens if we do not surrender within those two weeks, Your Majesty?" one council member, Lord Lucas, asked.

Elsa looked at Anna before answering. Anna nodded as an encouragement for her sister to go on. Elsa looked back to her council, took a deep breath, and said, "Then we will be at war with Nordstrom."

The room fell into a complete and uncomfortable silence; you could hear a pin drop. Elsa's breathing was beginning to get shaky. _Please, _someone_, say something!_ she pleaded in her mind. The looks of surprise on her council's face let her know in just how much trouble they were in. It would remain silent for another few minutes.

Finally her Captain of the Guard spoke. "What do you propose we do, my lady?"

This seemed to bring everyone back into reality. Then everybody began talking at once.

"This is preposterous! What is Nordstrom trying to do?"

"We can't surrender to them!"

"We can't go to war either!"

"ENOUGH!" Anna shouted. The councilmembers looked at their princess - some with awe, others with shock, and Elsa trying not to look grateful and proud of her sister.

"Thank you," she continued. "Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but I would like to know what my sister thinks about this situation."

The council members mumbled agreements and looked to their queen.

Elsa mouthed "Thank you" to her sister before looking at her council once again.

"I agree wholeheartedly, my Lords. We can't and _won't _surrender to Nordstrom." The looks of relief on some of the councilmembers faces made her feel slightly better. But she knew there still much more to be said. "That being said," she continued, "we can't afford to go to war with them either." Some of the councilmembers faces dropped at the realization.

"At least… not alone." she finished.

Her Captain of the Guard perked up as she said that. "What are you implying, Your Majesty?"

_It's now or never._ "I received another letter this morning as well. This one was from Queen Lila of the Southern Isles." The Council looked confused and interested at the same time. "The queen asked if she could visit Arendelle on business matters." Elsa continued. "My idea is that we send a response to the queen telling her that she is more than welcome to come to Arendelle. But we ask if they would be willing to bring in reinforcements as well. We tell them that Arendelle is at risk of a possible war and we would greatly appreciate it if they would ally with us against Nordstrom. But we don't stop there. We also send a letter to The Northern Isles and Corona, explaining the situation and requesting their assistance in this possible war. If we can get their help, we'll have a bigger chance of being able to win against Nordstrom. What do you think?"

The Council looked amongst themselves before looking back their Queen.

"I think that is a brilliant idea, Your Majesty," Ivan responded.

"I concur!" Lord Lucas, said.

One by one, the Council agreed with their Queen that bringing in reinforcements would be the best form of action. One councilmember, Lord Thomas, raised his hand for permission to speak. Elsa nodded.

"My Queen," he began, "should we send a letter to Weselton asking for reinforcements as well?"

Elsa hesitated. She hadn't renewed trade with Weselton in the past year nor did she have any intention to any time soon. Although Arendelle could use all the help it could get with defending itself against Nordstrom, she didn't trust Weselton and she had a gut feeling that letting them know that Arendelle was on the brink of war would only bring them more trouble.

"No," she decided.

"I'm sorry?" Lord Thomas asked.

"No, we will not send a letter to Weselton. I haven't renewed trade with them for a reason. I don't trust them. If they find out that we are on the brink of war they may send help to Nordstrom and Heaven knows we don't need that. We'll send the letters to the Southern and Northern Isles and Corona but Weselton stays out of this. Am I clear?"

The Council nodded.

"Good," Elsa said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, my Lords, I need to write these letters and send them out immediately. This meeting is adjourned. Ivan; can I have a moment?"

Ivan walked over to the Queen as the rest of the Council got up to leave. "Yes, Your Majesty?" he asked.

"Ivan, I need you to begin preparing the soldiers, immediately. I want them to go through extensive training so that they will be prepared for Nordstrom's soldiers. Do you have any new recruits?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. We brought in some new recruits last week."

"Make sure they get extra training. If they're new, they won't have the experience the other men have. Be sure you don't wear them down too much though. They'll need their strength for what's coming. That being said, the men need to be prepared for anything and everything so I want you to throw everything you have at them in order to prepare them for Nordstrom."  
"Yes, My Queen," Ivan said, bowing.

"Thank you, Ivan. You're dismissed."

Ivan bowed once again to Elsa and Anna and then walked out of the room.

"Well that went well," Anna said to her sister.

Elsa nodded, lost in thought.

"Elsa?"

She looked at Anna and sighed. "Anna, there was something else in the letter from Queen Lila… Something I didn't mention to the Council or you, at first."

"What is it?" Anna asked, apprehensively.

Elsa paused before answering. "Queen Lila wants to bring Hans back here with her..."

"WHAT?!"


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

It had been 5 days exactly since the letters had been sent out to their respective kingdoms. It was only one day afterwards that Elsa got responses from the three kingdoms swearing their allegiance to Arendelle and sending in reinforcements immediately. She had also sent a response to Nordstrom asking for peace between the two kingdoms, only to receive a letter back refusing. The letter was the final confirmation; Arendelle would go to war with Nordstrom. But at least they had allies on their side.

Speaking of allies, Hans was coming with his mother and the reinforcements from the Southern Isles. It had taken Anna some convincing to let Hans come back to Arendelle.

"_I just don't understand why _Hans _has to come!" _Anna had complained.

"_His mother said he was coming to apologize-"_ Elsa began.

"_I don't want an apology from him! I was hoping to never see him again!"_ Anna yelled.

"_I understand, Anna, I was hoping the same thing. But we don't have much of a choice."_

"_Why?!"_ Her sister demanded.

"_If we deny Hans' return to Arendelle, the Southern Isles could deny us help against Nordstrom and we can't afford that right now. We need all the help we can get and if we have to allow Hans back into Arendelle in order to ensure help from his kingdom then so be it."_

Anna huffed. "_Fine. But I'm only agreeing to this because I know you're right and because I trust your judgement. But don't expect me to be friendly to him."_

"_Well I'm not going to ask you to hug him! You're not Olaf!" _This made Anna chuckle which brought a small smile to Elsa's face. "_I'm only asking that you're civil to him. Please."_

"_Alright," _Anna said.

"_Thank you,"_ Elsa replied.

"_You're welcome,"_ her sister said with a smile. "Now _can we go build a snowman?"_

Elsa smiled at the memory. Her sister was always quick to jump to a happier topic. Elsa wished she could be as carefree as her sister sometimes but she was the queen. She had much more work than Anna would ever have to do and although she would get the occasional day to relax, a queen had to do what a queen had to do. Elsa didn't mind most of the time though; it was something she was born to do and she would wear her title proudly (even if it did wear her out at times). Besides, something told her that if Anna had any of the responsibilities that Elsa had, she wouldn't be as fun to be around.

Elsa was pulled out of her thoughts by the sight of a boat pulling into the Arendelle docks. She could tell by the flags that it was the Southern Isles. Elsa took a deep breath. _Here we go,_ she thought.

As the ship docked, stairs were lowered to let supplies, soldiers, and passengers off. The Queen of the Southern Isles walked off the ship first. After her was Hans. He seemed taller than Elsa remembered him to be. His auburn hair looked to have been freshly cut and his face fresh shaven (although he kept his sideburns). His green eyes looked around the dock until they made contact with Elsa's piercing blue ones. He quickly looked away from her but she thought she saw something in his eyes that she hadn't seen before. She didn't get time to ponder it though because she needed to greet the queen.

"Your Majesty," Elsa said, taking her hand. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you. Welcome to Arendelle."

"The pleasure is all mine, Your Majesty. And please, call me Lila," the Southern Isles queen responded.

"And you can call me Elsa," the Snow Queen said with a smile.

"Elsa, then." Lila said, smiling.

Elsa smiled back before looking at the former prince behind his mother. "Hello, Hans."

"Hello, Your Majesty," he said, bowing.

"You look well," Elsa said.

"As do you, Your Majesty," he said, lowering his head slightly.

He looked like he was about to say something else but Elsa began talking to Lila before he could get the chance. "Well, let's get you settled. I'm told luncheon will be ready within an hour so we have plenty of time to discuss everything."

The Southern Isles queen and former prince followed the Snow Queen into the castle. Despite her trying to ignore it, Elsa could feel Hans' eyes on her back the entire time they were walking. Finally they stopped at a grand staircase where a young woman was waiting.

"Good morning, Hanna." Elsa said to the girl.

"Good morning, Your Majesty." Hanna said, curtseying. Elsa smiled. "Hanna, I'd like you to show Hans, here, where he'll be staying, please. Queen Lila, if you'll follow me."

The queen and former prince looked at each other before Hans followed Hanna to where he'd be staying while Lila followed Elsa into her study. When the two queens got there, there was a tray with two cups on it, one for each queen.

"Tea?" Elsa asked Lila.

"Yes, please." Elsa handed her a cup with what smelled like mint tea while she grabbed her own cup that was filled with hot chocolate. As the two women sat down at Elsa's desk, the Snow Queen began speaking.

"I can't tell you how grateful we are for you to help us in our time of need, Lila. This whole ordeal is very stressful and knowing we have the Southern Isles as our allies makes things a little bit easier."

"I'm glad we could help, Elsa. It meant a lot to us that you would enlist our help; especially after last year's… events," she trailed off.

Elsa looked down before speaking. "Lila, although I do want to discuss this impending war with Nordstrom, I feel like we should discuss Hans."

Queen Lila looked at Elsa expectantly. "I don't want Hans to apologize. At least not yet," she said, raising her hands to Lila who looked at the Snow Queen confused.

"I don't understand," she said.

Elsa took a deep breath. "I don't want Hans to apologize yet because when and if he does, I want him to mean it. And I don't want to just know that he means it; I want _him_ to know that he means it. Does that make sense?"

Lila nodded. "So, basically, you'd like him to apologize; but only when he's ready to accept that he knows what he did was wrong and that he genuinely feels sorry."

"Exactly," Elsa said. "And I don't mean to say that Hans wouldn't mean it if he said it now, I just-"

"I completely understand," Lila said, smiling.

Elsa smiled and felt a little weight lift off her shoulders. "Thank you. I'm sorry you had to bring him all the way here only to not have him apologize."

"Actually…" Lila began.

"Yes?"

She laced her fingers together. "I have a favor to ask of you, Your Majesty."

The sudden use of formality triggered something in Elsa that warned her to be weary of what the Southern Isles queen would say next. "What is it?"

Queen Lila hesitated before speaking. "Would you be willing to let Hans redeem himself to you, your sister, and your people?"

Elsa leaned back in her chair, slightly. "I'm listening."

"I had this… crazy idea that maybe Hans could, I don't know, maybe stay in Arendelle for a while and get a job among your people? You know, to bring down his ego and show him his true potential while maybe even making a few genuine friendships." she quietly proposed.

Elsa sat, shell shocked, for a moment. _Hans, work _here_? _she thought. _That could go wrong in so many ways!_ When she finally found her voice, she began to express to the queen her doubts in the plan but was soon interrupted by Queen Lila.

"I know it's a long shot; believe me, I know. But Hans wasn't always like this. There's still good inside him. It's just that years of torment from his brothers have buried that good; deep deep down. He's a smart person, he just makes bad decisions sometimes. But we all make mistakes, right? And I'm not saying these things as an excuse for his actions nor am I saying any of this just because I'm his mother. I've seen him grow up, I've heard from his tutors, I've seen what great things he's capable of; he has so much potential to do so many things, he just doesn't see it. He needs another chance. And if you allow him that chance, then maybe he'll see what good he can do. Please."

Elsa tensed as the queen said that last word with her big green eyes pleading; it reminded her of when Hans said something similar last year.

_If you would just stop the winter, bring back summer, please,_ he had begged. Looking at his mother now, it was clear who he got that gene from.

Elsa continued to look at the queen for a long time, all the while her mind churning with a million different thoughts.

_He tried to kill you and Anna!_

_Everyone deserves a second chance._

_He practically turned your entire kingdom against you!_

_But if his mother thinks he has the ability to change, who am I to say no? Anna forgave me for what I did. If he proves himself, then maybe we can forgive him._

Elsa sighed. _I must be out of my mind._ "Alright," she agreed.

Queen Lila perked up. "Really?"

"Really," Elsa nodded. "Everyone deserves a second chance; including Hans."

Lila let out a breath and Elsa could see the relief flood her eyes. "Thank you so much, Elsa. This means so much to my husband and I. We will always appreciate for you this."

Elsa smiled. "It's the least we can do since you're helping us with this madness with Nordstrom."

Before the Southern Isles queen could respond, there was a knock at the door. "Come in!" Elsa called.

Erik poked his head in. "Excuse me, Your Majesties, but the Coronan and Northern Isles ships have arrived at the dock."

"Thank you, Erik. We'll be right down."

As her advisor left, Elsa and Lila stood. "I must greet our other allies at the docks. Would you like to come?"

Queen Lila shook her head. "Thank you, but no. I think I'll go tell Hans what we discussed."

"Alright, I'll have Hanna retrieve you for luncheon when we return," Elsa said.

"That sounds lovely," Lila said, smiling.

The two queens left the study-one going to the docks, the other going to her son. Elsa had temporarily pushed Hans to the back of her mind in order to focus on war plans with her allies. Despite the impending war that was coming, she couldn't help but feel slightly more confident than when she first got the surrender letter from Nordstrom knowing she had so much support from other kingdoms that she could proudly call Arendelle's allies. Maybe, just maybe, they would have the upper hand against Nordstrom in this war.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:**

"You did WHAT?!" Anna shrieked.

Elsa had just told Anna and Kristoff (and Olaf, who had invited himself into the private meeting among the sisters and Ice Master) what she and Queen Lila had decided on regarding Hans. Anna looked a mix between anger and shock, Kristoff was slumped in a chair, arms crossed, and avoiding eye contact with the Snow Queen, and Olaf was just entranced watching the fireplace but staying far enough that he wouldn't melt.

"Elsa, what are you thinking?" Anna began, trying to calm herself down. "It's one thing to bring him here to apologize but it's a completely different story allowing him to stay in Arendelle! Especially when we're about to go to war!"

"I know that, Anna, but what choice did I have?" Elsa said, keeping her temper and powers under surprisingly good control. "We need the Southern Isles on our side and I'm not taking any chances of losing allies. Plus his mother had very good points."

"Like what?" her sister asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"Well, for instance, that everyone, no matter who they are, deserves a second chance."

This struck a chord with Anna. "I- well- he- Elsa what he tried to do is unforgivable."

"You could say the same about me considering I almost killed you; twice!"

"Those were accidents though."

"You still forgave me and gave me multiple second chances. Who's to say he doesn't deserve at least one."

"She's right, you know," a voice piped up.

The sisters looked in the direction of the voice to find Olaf waddling towards them. "You agree with her, Olaf?" Anna asked in disbelief.

"Of course! No matter how bad a person is, there was good in them once. All they need is the opportunity to prove that it still exists within them. Hans is no exception. Who knows, maybe he's even _willing _to prove that there's still good in him."

Anna looked at Elsa who merely shrugged. The princess groaned, defeated. "Fine. I'll trust your judgement on one condition: he gets _one_ second chance but if he blows it, he goes in the castle prison until the war is over and then we ship him back to the Southern Isles never to be dealt with again. Deal?"

Elsa hugged her sister. "Deal."

"Yay!" Olaf exclaimed, joining in the hug. The sisters giggled until they heard a grunt and shuffling behind them. They turned to find Kristoff in the same position in the chair except his face was turned away from the girls.

"Kristoff?" Anna called.

He didn't answer. Anna huffed and walked over to her boyfriend and put a hand on his shoulder. "Kristoff? What's wrong?"

Kristoff's shoulders slumped and he turned back towards the queen and princess. He looked at Anna before looking at Elsa and saying four simple words: "I don't trust him."

"Neither do I," Elsa responded. "But that's what second chances are all about right? Earning someone's trust and respect? Proving you're not a psychotic attempted murderer; just a misunderstood prince who made a few very, _very_ bad decisions?"

Kristoff shook his head. "I just hope you know what you're getting yourself into."

"I have a pretty good idea," the Snow Queen replied. "I do have a favor to ask of you, though."  
"I should've known," Kristoff mumbled. "You want me to give Hans a job as an Ice Harvester, I assume?"  
"And place him in one of the cabins the Ice Harvesters live in?" Elsa said/asked.

Kristoff sighed but nodded. "Alright. I can start him tomorrow. We'll move him into the cabins later in the day."

Anna smiled at her boyfriend and kissed him on the cheek. Elsa walked towards the couple and Kristoff stood up out of respect. He assumed she would shake his hand but was surprised when she hugged him. His surprise soon wore off and he hugged her back before Elsa pulled back and pulled Anna into the hug too.

"Hey! Warm hugs are my thing!" Olaf yelled, waddling towards the trio. The group laughed as Olaf wiggled his way into the group hug. They stayed that way for a few minutes until Elsa pulled away first.

"Thank you; all _three_ of you," she began, "I know you think I'm crazy for doing this during war time but knowing that you support me makes it a little easier to handle."

All three smiled at the Snow Queen.

"No matter what happens," Anna said, taking her sister's hand, "I will always stand by your side; until the end."

"Me too," agreed Kristoff.

"Me three!" exclaimed Olaf.

Elsa smiled at her three best friends (or two best friends and best snowman friend).

Her sister smiled at her before saying "Long live Queen Elsa!" while bowing.

"Long live Queen Elsa!" Kristoff and Olaf echoed, both bowing.

Elsa smiled a big smile and curtseyed back to her sister and friends and then pulled them back into the tightest group hug all four had ever been in, making Elsa feel safe; even if it was just for a little while.

**AN: I know that last part was cheesy but I thought it was cute. Thanks for the reviews and views so far guys! I appreciate it.**


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

Hans had always been a fast learner; so he caught on to the ice harvesting business quite quickly to everyone's surprise. That didn't make anyone like him more, however. After his mother went back to the Southern Isles, everyone's attitudes toward him changed. People became more rude and he would get glared at whenever he walked through town. He wasn't surprised though; he expected that of the Arendellian people. What did surprise him, however, was how civil Queen Elsa, Princess Anna, and Kristoff were being to him. He assumed it was just out of courtesy to his mother, but (even though he'd never admit it out loud) he appreciated it, nonetheless. It made him feel a little more human and less like the monster everyone else saw him as.

Speaking of the queen, the ice harvesters got a surprise visit from Queen Elsa today. She arrived on horseback looking as regal as ever. Her hair was down in her signature braid and she was wearing a long purple cloak (fairly similar to the one she wore at her coronation). Hans noticed something different about the queen but he couldn't quite place it until she got off her horse; then he noticed that she was wearing _trousers! _Hans was quite baffled seeing the queen looking so… different but normal at the same time. He couldn't help but think she looked nice dressed the way she was but soon banished the thought from his mind. _Don't think that!_ he thought. _They're only being nice to you because they're honoring Mother's wishes_.

As Hans refocused, he noticed the queen chatting with Kristoff, the chief Ice Harvester. He had heard from conversations between other ice harvesters that Kristoff and Princess Anna had been together since the 'The Great Freeze' last summer and that, despite being a commoner, he was the ideal husband for the princess. Even the queen liked him, which was obvious to Hans as Elsa seemed quite at ease with the ice harvester than she did with other people: diplomats and commoners alike. _Well, better him than me, Anna._ Hans thought to himself. _I wouldn't have been able to make you happy. At least he does._

Hans was soon pulled out of his thoughts by Kristoff calling for the men to gather around because the queen had an announcement. After they all bowed to the queen, she gave her announcement.

"As you all know, Nordstrom has declared war on Arendelle," she began. "Our soldiers and allies have been preparing long and hard and I think we are just about as ready as we'll ever be for this war."

_So why are you here?_ Hans thought. As if reading his mind, Elsa continued. "Now you probably are wondering why I'm here. A couple days ago, some catapults were found in the Arendellian armory. After making a few tweaks we believe these catapults are ready. However, we will not be catapulting usual weapons; instead we will be catapulting this." She used her powers to form a figure in her hand. When she was done she revealed a small cube of ice about the size of her hand. She handed it to one of the harvesters to pass around and look at it.

"Of course, the cubes that we use will be much bigger. That's where you all come in. I've already given the orders to Mr. Bjorgman but you will essentially be cutting ice cubes twice the size of the one you hold in your hand." The cube had ironically ended up in Hans' hands. "Once you have enough, you'll bring them into town and place them in a designated area I have designed for them. Are there any questions?"

The men looked around at one another but no one asked anything. "Very well," Elsa said, "I appreciate your help with this. The people of Arendelle as well as myself are very grateful for the wonderful work you do for our kingdom. And I promise once this is over, you will all be greatly rewarded. If you have any questions, please ask Mr. Bjorgman; he knows everything there is to know about this plan."

The men stood there for a moment staring at Elsa, as if expecting her to say something else. She looked at Kristoff before realizing what they were waiting for. "Oh! You can go back to work now. Thank you for your time."

The men bowed to the queen and walked back to their stations to begin cutting large blocks of ice for the catapults. Hans began to follow his fellow harvesters before he heard his name called by the last person he expected to hear it from.

"Hans, do you have a moment? I'd like to speak with you," Elsa said.

He turned and looked at her, slightly surprised. "O- Of course, Your Majesty."

"I won't keep him long; I just need to have a word with him," Elsa said to Kristoff.

"Take all the time you need, Your Majesty," he responded.

Before Kristoff walked off towards the harvesters, he gave a warning look to Hans and then walked off. Hans would never admit it out loud, but Kristoff genuinely scared him. Although Hans was well fit, he doubted he'd win a fight against Kristoff; not that he wanted to get in a fight with him anyway. He looked away from where Kristoff walked off to the queen.

He cleared his throat. "What did you want to speak with me about, Your Majesty?"

"Not here," she said. "Follow me."

She led him to the rest cabin where the men went on their lunch break and also to relax after a long day of harvesting ice. Hans followed her wearily, unsure of why she would want to speak with him. He decided whatever the reason, he decided, he would keep his guard up. He wanted to be prepared for whatever would happen.

They were in the cabin now. Elsa sat down at one of the tables and asked Hans to sit as well. He complied, sitting across from her. They looked at each other for a moment, each waiting for the other to start. Finally, Elsa spoke.

"How are you, Hans?" she asked.

He was caught off guard; this was not what he was expecting. "Um, I'm fine, Your Majesty. Uh, h- how are you?"

Elsa raised an eyebrow but kept her voice level. "I'm alright, thank you. Kristoff tells me you're doing quite well as a harvester despite it only being your third day."

Hans shrugged. "I've always been a fast learner."

"So I hear," Elsa said.

They sat in silence for a while before Hans spoke. "Your Majesty, should I wondering why you wanted to speak with me? Something tells me you're not here for small talk."

Elsa stared at him, struggling to find the right words. She sighed. "My efforts may be futile but I figured I would give it a shot anyway."

Hans looked at the queen confused but expectantly. "Hans, I need to know why."

"Why what?" he asked.

Elsa looked at him, exasperated. "Please don't make me say it."

It clicked. "Oh… you mean why I did what I did last year…" he trailed off.

Elsa pursed her lips, waiting for an answer. Hans was at a loss for words. He had thought about why he did everything he did and he had thought he had made peace with his answer but by the words that came out of his mouth next, it was clear he hadn't.

"I always read stories when I was younger of kingdoms that had been taken over by great powerful forces. I liked to believe I was one of them and one day I would take over a kingdom like the stories I read as a child. I just wasn't good enough. But a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. No kingdom was ever taken by peaceful force, right?"

He didn't have time to see her reaction before feeling a strong force strike him across the face. He put his hand to his cheek to discover ice particles falling off. He looked at Elsa, angered, until he saw that she was fuming. He was sure that if she wasn't the Snow Queen, she'd have steam coming out of her ears.

"How dare you…" she said, in a cold voice.

Hans stared at her defiant, hiding the fact that he was scared she would kill him right then and there.

"Is this your form a joke, Hans? Because it's sick; like you! I should've ordered for your execution the second you left Arendelle!"

"Then why didn't you?" he spit at her.

"Because I have a conscience!" she yelled, standing now. Hans leaned back a bit from the table; he was also beginning to wish she had worn her gloves considering the room was beginning to get extremely colder by the minute.

"Those kingdoms you read about may have been taken over by powerful forces but what the books didn't tell you is that the kingdoms surrendered because they were afraid," Elsa began. "And you know what happens to kingdoms run by fear, and fear alone, Hans? They fall apart! The people rebel and the kingdom falls into anarchy. And those kingdoms seldom survive after they've fallen. And you know what kind of kingdom Arendelle would be if you had won Hans? One that was falling to the rebellious people and anarchy. You wouldn't have been a good ruler, Hans; you would've been a dictator that wouldn't even survive his first year on the throne! You would be dead and Arendelle would fall to pieces only to be remembered in the stupid books that you read! Successful kingdoms aren't run by fear, they're run by loving and fair rulers; both of which you're not! You're cruel, you're greedy, and you don't care about anyone but yourself. I was willing to give you a chance because I'm a firm believer in that everyone deserves a second chance; but you just blew yours. After the war is over, I'm sending you back to the Southern Isles for good." She was in his face now. "And believe me when I say, Westergard, that you _will_ die as a disgraced prince in exile. _That _I will ensure."

By now, the fire that had been going in the cabin was out and the room was surrounded with ice. Hans was genuinely terrified now and could no longer hide it. Elsa noticed his change of facial expression and backed away from him, looking around her as if realizing for the first time what she had done to the cabin. He noticed a sliver of fear in her eyes before she looked back at him with pure hatred. Without saying another word, she walked out of the cabin, slamming the door behind her. Hans sat in the cabin waiting for someone (a guard, Kristoff) to come in and drag him to the palace dungeons or even to his death; but no one came. He decided to go outside only to discover that it was evening now and most of the men had left except Kristoff who was waiting on a sled with his reindeer, Sven. Hans walked over and joined Kristoff on the sled and they went back into town, not speaking a word to each other the whole only thing Hans thought the entire way back to his cabin was _What have I done? What, in the name of all the realms, have I done?_

_**AN: So... I'm a goofball! I've been working on this story for months (Heck, I'm still working on it) and I've reread it I don't know how many times and I always thought 'Okay, this is good.' But, of course, now that it's up a different idea popped into my head that I'm now integrating into this story. It's not for a while so I don't think it will interfere with updates but I just wanted to warn you guys now in case updates start lagging because I'm working on a later part of the story. I don't want to catch up too quickly and then screw myself over as I'm scrambling to finish chapters and update them. Anywho, I just wanted to let ya'll know now! Have a good week and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**_

_**Tallyho!**_


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

Elsa didn't know how or when she had gotten to her ice palace on the North Mountain (she had fixed it up a few months after the Great Freeze and still used it when she needed space to think). All she knew was after her conversation with Hans, she had to get out of there fast before she hurt someone. She vaguely remembered the conversation she had with Kristoff before running off to her ice palace.

_Elsa, what happened?_

_Stay away, Kristoff, I don't want to hurt you!_

_Is there anything I can do?_

_I- I don't know. I can't think straight. I need to get out of here._

_Elsa, wait!_ But she was already gone.

She hated using her powers, negatively, but for the second time in one day (the first being when she slapped Hans and left ice on his face) she allowed herself to vent with her powers. She screamed as she shot shards of ice off into open space below her balcony. When she was done, she stood there, breathing heavily before dropping to the floor, sobbing.

It was too much. The impending war, Hans returning, trying to run a kingdom while she was breaking on the inside. She couldn't handle it anymore. And Hans looking so damn proud of himself for what he did made it worse. She hated him; she hated his smile, his green eyes, his stupid sideburns. She hated that she believed he was willing to change. She hated herself for believing that there might still be some good in the former prince; that her efforts were worthless. The worst part of it all was that she pitied him. She saw the look in his eyes as he spoke to her; she knew he was lying to not only her, but to himself. She had seen the same look in her own eyes for years. The look of utter sadness and loneliness. She hated that she understood him so well, despite his actions and what he said. And, most of all, she hated that she was still willing to let him prove himself despite her promise to Anna, because she was secretly too determined to give up that easily.

She sat for, she didn't know how long, conflicted, sobbing, and holding herself in a fetal position trying to make herself feel better. She was still crying when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up expecting it to be Kristoff or a palace guard; instead, it was Anna.

Anna looked at her sister with sad eyes and dropped to her knees to she could be eye level with her sister. Neither said a word; Anna just opened up her arms and Elsa crawled into them, still crying. The sisters stayed that way for a while: Elsa crying while Anna just held her, stroking her sister's hair and back, allowing her to get it all out. When Elsa finally calmed down, she simply held onto her sister for dear life; Anna never let go once.

Only when the sky was completely dark and the moon was directly up head, did the sisters return to the castle. Kristoff was waiting with Elsa's advisor, Erik, and lady-in-waiting, Hanna. Hardly any words were spoken (by Elsa, at least). Kristoff just gave Elsa a much-needed bear hug, Erik made sure the queen was okay before telling everyone that she had returned and was going to bed, and Hanna and Anna walked Elsa to her room to get her ready for bed. Hanna had brought Elsa some small sandwiches and a cup of hot chocolate and then left the sisters alone. Anna attempted to get Elsa to eat and drink something before going to bed but her efforts proved to be useless. Instead, Anna tucked her sister into bed and then crawled in next to her; as Anna soothed her sister to sleep, Elsa knew she had to say something to her sister before going to bed. She couldn't think of anything to say that Anna didn't alreadyknow though, so as she drifted off, she simply said "Thank you," so Anna would, hopefully, know that she would be okay.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7:**

Elsa woke up the next morning feeling a slight pressure on her legs. She opened her eyes and looked to find Olaf sitting on her, patiently waiting for his creator to wake up. A small smile formed on her lips. "Hi," she said, sleepily.

"Hi," the snowman spoke, smiling. "Are you feeling better?"

She sat up, careful not to wake Anna or make Olaf fall. "A little bit, yeah. Did I worry you?"

"Well, yeah. You're gone all day and most of the night and come back with Anna not speaking and puffy eyes. I was worried you were super sick or something."

Elsa chuckled. "Yeah, yesterday was an adventure and a half. But I'm better now; or at least as better as I can be considering the circumstances."

Olaf nodded. Both heard some shuffling and looked over to find Anna waking up. When she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Olaf. "Olaf? What are you doing here?" she asked, confused.

"I wanted to see how Elsa was doing!" he said, enthusiastically now that both women were awake.

Anna looked at her sister and smiled. "I'm glad to see you're doing better."

Elsa smiled and grabbed her sister's hand. "All thanks to you. I wouldn't have been able to make it through yesterday if you hadn't been there. Thank you."

"Anytime," Anna said, yawning. "So what are we going to do about Hans?"

Elsa thought for a moment. "Just let him go back to work for now. We'll deal with him later."

"Elsa, you told me if he messed up once, he'd go to the castle prisons."

"I know, but I have too much on my plate to deal with that right now. For now, he continues his work. After this is over, then we'll decide what to do with him. Deal?"

Anna sighed in exasperation but agreed with her sister, nonetheless. "Deal."

After making their decision and sending Olaf out of the room, the sisters decided it was time to get dressed (Anna wearing a simple dress that would allow her to get around easier and Elsa wearing a blouse and trousers so she would have more ease moving around in case of an emergency) and check up on any last minute war details. If her council's calculations were correct, Nordstrom would invade any day now. Elsa didn't want Anna involved in the crossfire so the princess had been placed in charge keeping the townspeople calm and out of danger; the palace had been opened as a place of refuge for the citizens and a make-shift hospital if need be where Anna would also be helping out with.

Meanwhile, Elsa would be on the battlefield with her soldiers (much to the dissent of her sister and council). She knew that she was a valuable asset to the war considering her powers were an extremely useful weapon when needed. Plus she refused to leave Arendelle's, the Southern and Northern Isles, and Corona's finest soldiers to fend for themselves while she hides in her palace. She remembered a quote her father once said: "A good ruler supports his people in times of harmony. But a great ruler supports his people in times of trouble." She swore to herself that, if Arendelle was in trouble, she would stand by her people and kingdom; no matter the danger or cost.

Elsa was discussing navy positions with Ivan when a bell rang three times. Everyone looked in the direction except Elsa who was looking at Erik running- no, _sprinting_- towards her. "Your- Your Majesty," he said, breathless.

"What is it, Erik?" Elsa asked, worried.

"A scout saw a fleet of ships approaching Arendelle, my lady. They're Nordstrom ships."

Elsa glanced at Ivan before looking back at Erik. "How long?"

"An hour, at most."

"That'll have to do," Elsa said. "Send someone up to the North Mountain _now_ and have them bring down the ice harvesters with how ever many ice blocks they've been able to get. Once they're back, send them to the catapults to help set up them up. If any man wants to stay and help, let him; the more man power, the better. As for everyone else, make sure they get inside the castle safely."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Erik said, running off to fulfill the queen's orders.

Elsa turned to Ivan. "Get the soldiers and navy into position; Arendelle's about to enter a hell of a war."

The ice harvesters returned to Arendelle quicker than expected; which was good considering the Nordstrom ships were getting closer by the second. Elsa was told that multiple men had volunteered to help, including Kristoff (much to her chagrin) and, to her surprise, as did Hans. She didn't have time to question his reasoning, though, because she had to make sure that everyone would be ready. She only prayed that he would stay on Arendelle's side.

Just as she thought the last person was safe and out of harms way, she turned around to find Anna standing there. "Anna, what are you doing here?" she asked.

"I just wanted to wish you good luck and give you this." She held up a small necklace with a silver pendant in the shape of Elsa's snowflake. "I wanted to save it for your birthday but I figured you could use a little comfort before… everything." "Oh, Anna-" Elsa began.

"For good luck," Anna said, smiling meekly.

Anna clasped the necklace around her sister's neck and then hugged her tightly which Elsa gladly returned.

When Anna pulled away, she looked straight into her sister's eyes. "You be careful out there, alright? Promise me."

"I promise," Elsa said, holding her sister's hands tightly, before looking behind her. "I think someone wants to speak with you."

Anna turned around to find Kristoff waiting for his turn to speak with the princess. Elsa left them alone while the couple exchanged a few words and shared a sweet kiss. Afterwards, they beckoned their queen over for one last group hug (for now). "Take care of each other, okay?" Anna said. Elsa and Kristoff agreed before sending Anna off to the castle and the queen and ice harvester took their respective places among the militaries; unaware Hans had witnessed the whole encounter between the three.

As the Nordstrom ships came into view, the soldiers, ice harvesters, and queen prepared themselves. The four armies had been so focused on just Nordstrom invading that what they saw next shocked all of them.

"Is that-" Ivan began.

"Weselton," Elsa breathed out.

Despite Elsa's refusal to send a letter to Weselton when asking for allies, her worst fears were confirmed anyway: Weselton had allied with Nordstrom. And they were coming straight for Arendelle with a vengeance.

**Dun dun dunnnnn!**


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8:**

Hans had never seen a war in action before but he imagined most were just as intense as the one unfolding in front of him now. As soon as the Nordstrom and Weselton ships were in sight, they began attacking. Arrows went flying, swords began clashing, blocks of ice went soaring, and a storm began to form, courtesy of the Snow Queen.

He had never seen kingdoms work so well together. Soldiers from the Southern and Northern Isles manned the sword fights, land battles, and catapults while the Coronan and Arendellian armies took control of the battle on the water while Elsa knocked arrows out of the air with her powers and even kicked (yes, kicked) a few Nordstrom soldiers down all while looking graceful and intimidating at the same time.

The ice catapults proved to be a huge success. Thanks to their size, the blocks were able to fly out quite far but still do some damage when landing. They had already sunk one ship (Hans thought it was from Weselton but he wasn't sure) and were in the process of damaging two others while knocking out multiple enemy soldiers at the same time.

Just as it looked like Arendelle would have the upper hand for good in the battle, all hell broke loose. One ice block was too heavy for a catapult and just as the harvesters were about to let it go, the restraining ropes snapped causing the catapult to ricochet and fling the block in the wrong direction: right towards Elsa.

The queen had her back turned to the block so she didn't see it coming but, fortunately, Ivan did and pushed her out of the way in time. Elsa rolled off to the side and almost fell off the dock but caught herself in time. As she stood back up, she looked around for Ivan but couldn't find him until she saw movement beneath the ice block.

"Ivan!" she screamed.

Using her powers, she pushed the block off of her Captain of the Guard only to find him badly injured from the collision with the ice. A few other soldiers had heard Elsa's scream and began to run towards her but got intercepted by five enemy soldiers that took all their attention.

"Oh, Ivan," Elsa said, dropping to her knees and checking on the damage; she found that he had extreme bleeding on multiple parts of his body due to ice shards that had landed into his skin. "We have to get you out of here!" she said. As more and more allied soldiers attempted to help the queen, more enemy soldiers got in their way and prevented Elsa from getting the help she needed. Multiple soldiers (allies and enemies) began to fall as the battle raged on. For every two allied soldiers that fell, four more enemy soldiers would gain the advantage.

Elsa tried to move Ivan by pulling him up by his shoulders to drag him off to someone who could take him to the hospital. What she didn't notice was that a Nordstrom soldier was coming up behind her, sword raised. Hans saw what was happening however and grabbed a sword from a soldier at the catapults and took off in the direction of the soldier, ignoring the calls from everyone back at the catapults, including Kristoff who had yelled "Hans, no!"

Elsa noticed the soldier at the last minute and was about to freeze him until Hans got there a second early and knocked him out with the hilt of his sword, causing the soldier to fall into the water. Elsa glanced at the soldier before looking at her savior. "Hans, what are you doing here?" she asked.

"Helping!" he yelled, picking up Ivan's feet. "Come on!"

The two ran back with Ivan between them and dropped him by the catapults. "Get him to the palace immediately!" Elsa commanded, before running off back into the battle with Hans following close behind. Most of the battle had moved to the water so Hans and Elsa jumped onto a ship and began to do some damage from there. For some reason, Elsa didn't stop Hans from following her and helping her out. He assumed that she just didn't have time to question his actions or loyalties under the circumstances.

But as if an unspoken agreement had gone between the queen and former prince, they began to work together as one. Elsa would shoot ice towards Nordstrom and Weselton ships in an attempt to damage and sink them while Hans would watch Elsa's back and take down anyone who came near her. Ice blocks were still being shot through the air from the remaining catapults, but Elsa was watching them now and controlling the direction she wanted them to go.

Hans was now taking on two soldiers at once but wasn't backing down in the slightest. Despite it being one sword against two, he was holding his own pretty well; that is until one soldier lunged towards him and cut him in the side of his stomach but Hans was running on too much adrenaline to notice. The former prince lunged toward the other guard and stabbed him in the stomach; when he turned around he saw that the other soldier was covered in ice and snow and saw Elsa shrug before sending more ice towards another Weselton soldier.

As Hans and Elsa pulled the attention to themselves, the allied armies were able to get their advantage back by taking down soldiers who were left by themselves. For an improvisational military change, everyone was able to work really well together. Hans had just taken down a Nordstrom soldier when he turned around and saw Elsa fighting three soldiers by herself and was losing badly.

"Elsa, get down!" he yelled. Without a second thought, Elsa dropped to the deck while Hans cut a rope with his sword that released a mast that knocked the three soldiers off the boat and into the water. Elsa stood up and nodded a quick thanks to her savior for the second time that day before turning her attention to the sudden screams coming from one the ships. A Coronan ship had caught on fire and a Northern Isles was starting to light up when Elsa realized that Weselton was releasing burning arrows. Before she could do anything, Hans was already halfway to the burning ships by swinging from ropes onto the ship's masts. He was almost to the Coronan ship when it exploded (which caused the Northern Isles ship to explode) and sent Hans and the men who had jumped off both ships flying. Hans landed hard on the deck of ship and smacked his head against the back of a railing. He was sure that would leave a bruise.

Only when he stood up and when everything around him stopped spinning did he realize where he landed: on the Nordstrom command ship and many Nordstrom soldiers were approaching him. He was surrounded. He looked around for a way out but it seemed hopeless. He wouldn't die a former prince in exile; he would die a former prince in battle, completely helpless. He was at a loss. That was until a burning arrow from Weselton landed on the Norstrom ship. Then he got an idea; a crazy one that might get him killed but it was better than nothing.

One of Nordstrom's most valuable trade goods was alcohol; that meant that there had to be some on the ship. _How else would the arrows be burning?_ Hans reasoned. He looked around and found a barrel on the deck that had a liquid in it sloshing around. He assumed (rather more hoped) that the liquid in there was alcohol but there was only one way to find out.

Jumping on the edge of the railing, Hans grabbed a nearby rope from one of the sails and swung himself over the surrounding soldiers and landed right next to the burning arrow. Grabbing it, he ran to the barrel and smelled the contents: it was definitely alcohol. Noticing the soldiers coming towards him, Hans grabbed the barrel and put the arrow in front of it which stopped the soldiers dead in their tracks.

"Pull back or I blow up the ship and all of you go down!" Hans demanded.

"What's one ship explosion when the rest can still fight?" one soldier countered.

"That's where you're wrong;" Hans said. "You see, there's quite a bit of alcohol in here. And if I blow this up, then the leftover shards that will be on fire, will hit your other ships- all of which have barrels full of alcohol as well, I noticed- and blow those up too. You saw what happened when the Coronan ship exploded; it caused the Northern Isles ship to explode too. And that was just with a small amount of alcohol and fire. Imagine what could happen if was an entire barrel… shall we find out?"

"You're bluffing! Plus you know that if you blow up the ship and you'll go down with us!" replied the same guard, who sounded less fierce than he intended to.

"So be it then," Hans said lowering the arrow into the barrel.

"STOP!" yelled another guard, sending up a signal of retreat. "You win this round;" he said to Hans, "but we'll be back. That much I can ensure."

"I look forward to it," Hans said, smugly, before throwing the arrow away and diving off the boat, into the water.

As the Weselton and Nordstrom ships withdrew, Hans swam towards the ship that he left Elsa on. A row boat was lowered so he could be pulled back up; once he was on the deck a cloak was draped over him. Before he could fully catch his breath, a flash of blonde went in front of his eyes and he felt a small figure hugging him tightly. He didn't have time to react before Elsa pulled back and looked at him.

"Hans, you crazy genius; you've saved us all!" she exclaimed, pulling his head down and kissing his forehead. They both blushed as she pulled away but no one noticed since everyone's face was flushed. She turned around quickly and began speaking to the soldiers on board. "Take us back to the docks and help get everyone to the hospital. Afterwards, go to the Great Hall and get some food and rest. You've all done your kingdoms a great honor today."

Hans began to feel a bit hazy and could no longer comprehend anything that anyone was saying. He felt his legs wobble and the next thing he knew he was on the ground and Elsa was talking to him while looking panicked but he only heard a few words. It was only then that Elsa noticed the blood seeping through his shirt. As she removed it, she saw the cut (or more gash) that he had received while fighting the soldier who lunged at him. He had lost a lot of blood throughout the battle and was continuing to lose more; Elsa did the only thing she thought could help: she put pressure on the wound to help stem the blood flow. He heard muffled yelling from Elsa and some soldiers but was soon losing focus.

"Hans? Hans!" he heard someone scream. "Hans stay with me! We're almost there, just stay with me; please! Damn it, Hans! Don't you dare close your eyes!"

The last thing he remembered was feeling extremely cold; ice cold, almost. And then everything went black.

**AN: So tomorrow, I've got a lot to do so I probably won't be able to post a new chapter. HOWEVER, I decided I'd just post the new one tonight (it's almost midnight here anyway so we'll count it as the new chapter for tomorrow). I really like this chapter and I hope you guys do too!**

**Tallyho!**


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9:**

When Hans woke up, the first thing he felt was searing pain all over his body but mostly in his head and right side. He tried to move but even if he shifted his body slightly, it hurt. He groaned in pain and frustration.

"Oh good, you're awake," he heard a familiar voice say.

He opened his eyes to find Anna sitting next to him. "Anna?" he croaked. "What- what happened? Where am I?"

"You're in one of the palace guest rooms. We moved you here so the surgeon could work on you without effecting anyone else in the hospital area. You suffered a lot of injuries and lost a lot of blood during the battle. You have an incredibly thick skull for someone who smack his head against a ship railing, though. You only have a minor concussion, a couple broken ribs, nineteen stitches in your side, and you'll have some bruising on your body for a while but otherwise, you'll live."

Hans put his hand to his head. "That explains the headache," he said, pushing himself into a sitting position, despite the pain he felt. "What happened after I collapsed? Battle wise, I mean."

"Nothing," Anna confirmed. "You're stunt with the barrel was very effective. They pulled back immediately and gave us time to regroup. There have been some minor attacks over the past few days but we've been able to keep them at bay. They suffered more losses than we did so we have a slight advantage right now."

"How many did we lose?"

Anna swallowed before answering. "We don't know the final count yet. The explosions scattered some people so we're keeping an eye out for them. But the original count of soldiers that we had was over 800; now we're down to 780, including those who are missing. However, there were a lot of injured soldiers. Most of them are doing better and are able to keep lookout but others are still in the hospital."

Hans stared into space, speechless. He couldn't believe they had lost so many soldiers and just within the first day. If this war lasted any longer, he wasn't sure Arendelle could hold their own; even _with_ the allies.

While thinking about the war, Hans remembered the man he had help Elsa rescue."What about the man Elsa and I saved? I think his name was Ivan?"

Anna nodded. "He's got some broken ribs and a broken collarbone along with some major bruising but he'll be fine. He won't be able to fight for a while though."

Hans nodded, relieved to hear that Elsa's Captain of the Guard survived. He didn't look good when they dragged him off the battlefield. Suddenly, something Anna had said earlier clicked into his head. "Wait a minute," he started, "you said you've had attacks over the _days_. How long was I out for?"

"Three days," Anna said.

"_What?!_" he exclaimed.

"Shhh!" Anna said, waving her hands, nodding towards the corner.

Hans looked where Anna was nodding to and saw, none other, than Queen Elsa curled up in a chair, sleeping. He had never seen anything or anyone look more beautiful than she did while sleeping the chair. She looked so peaceful, in a deep sleep with a small smile on her lips. She looked much different here than the intimidating Snow Queen he saw on the battlefield; here, he thought she looked like an angel.

"How long has she been there?" Looking back at Anna.

"After checking on everyone else and ensuring that we had enough supplies and reinforcements after the battle, she came straight here and has hardly left since. She only leaves when I take her place so she can eat and speak with the armies to stay updated on what's going on outside. Then she comes straight back and doesn't leave. She wanted to be here when you woke up. I tried getting her to sleep in the room next door but she refused. I think she feels responsible for your injuries, considering she didn't send you back to the catapults after you helped her.

"We had to literally drag her away from you as the ship you were on got back to the docks. She started to panic and a sheet of ice was forming beneath the two of you so we pulled her away and got you inside quickly. It took Elsa some time to calm down after that. The surgeon wouldn't let her in to see you until he was done so that's when we sent her to change clothes and go check on everyone else who had been injured in order to distract her. It worked; by the time the surgeon was done, she had calmed down enough to be able to see you without making it snow. This is the first time she's gotten a full night's sleep since before the war started; even if it is in a chair."

Hans nodded, looking back at the Snow Queen remembering the cold he felt as he blacked out. _So that's where it came from, _he thought. He wasn't angry though. He was touched that even though ice formed beneath him, it was because she was concerned for his well-being. She had truly proven herself to be a worthy queen of her people and kingdom. He only hoped he still had a chance to prove himself to her and her sister that he wasn't a bad person; he just made bad decisions.

"She didn't receive any injuries?" he asked.

"Miraculously, no. As tiny as she is, she's pretty resilient. She just suffered major exhaustion but now that she's sleeping she'll probably wake up feeling fine 'cause she'll have rested."

The two sat in silence for a moment.

"Hans, I have to thank you," Anna said, suddenly.

He looked at the princess, confused. "What?"

"You saved my sister; twice. That's more than I could ever ask from someone. And you pushed back the Nordstrom and Weselton forces by nearly committing suicide. You're a hero, Hans. And you did it without taking over the kingdom too," she said that last part quietly but Hans heard her anyway.

He looked down, ashamed. "Anna, I- I'm so sorry for everything I did to you and your sister. I don't-"

"Shhh," Anna said, putting a finger to his lips. "It's okay; I forgive you. Thank you for apologizing though. I appreciate it. But I think the person who really deserves the apology is Elsa."

As if right on cue, the Snow Queen began to shift in her chair, signaling that she was waking up. "I'll let you two talk; and Hans, thanks again." Anna said, patting his hand before walking out of the room. As the door closed, Elsa's eyes fluttered open. Hans smiled as the queen sat up and looked at him. "Hey," he said, waving a small wave with his hand.

"Hey;" Elsa said, a smile forming on her lips. "You're awake. How do you feel?"

Hans groaned. "Aside from feeling like I got hit with a huge delivery carriage, I feel great!" he answered, sarcastically.

Elsa chuckled as she stood up and walked towards him. She was in her signature ice blue gown with her hair in her braid; Hans thought she looked even more like the beautiful Snow Queen that she was when she was dressed like that. He was pulled out of his thoughts as Elsa sat down next to him on the bed. There was a silence between them before the queen spoke again. "Thank you," she said, quietly while looking down at her hands.

"For what?" Hans asked.

"For saving my life and the lives of my people." she said, looking up at him.

"Twice," he said, immediately regretting it.

"What?"

The words were out his mouth before he could process them. "I saved your life twice."

Elsa rolled her eyes. "Yes, you saved my life twice. And for that, I thank you."

"Not a problem!" Hans said a bit too quickly and proudly.

Elsa huffed in exasperation and looked at Hans with disappointment. "Well, I'm glad you're feeling better," she said, getting up to leave.

"Elsa, wait!" Hans said, grabbing her wrist.

Elsa tensed up at his touch. "Before you go, I owe you an apology."

"Hans-" Elsa said, trying to pull away.

"Please, let me finish," he asked her. Sighing in defeat, she nodded and sat down back on the bed as he let go of her wrist. "Everything that you said about me is true;" he began, "I am greedy and cruel and selfish. But I don't want to be anymore. What you told me up at the North Mountain gave me the reality check I'd been denying myself. You're right; I would've been a horrible ruler and Arendelle would probably be in ruins by now. But seeing how much your people love you and how supportive the other kingdoms have been to come to your aid, proves that it's in your blood to be queen. I would've just made a fool of myself.

"As for what I said up in the cabin, I didn't mean any of it. I was just too proud and ashamed to admit that I knew what I did was wrong; _why_ I did it is even more pathetic. My entire life has consisted of my brothers telling me that I wasn't good enough, that I'd never amount to anything. And as the 13th born, I was always told that wherever I went, bad luck would follow. I tried to ignore it but after a while, I started to believe them; I began to see myself as the failure they saw me as. I believed I would never do anything worth telling stories about. Eventually, I decided that I would show my brothers up some day; I didn't know how or when but I knew that I would. When I heard about your coronation, I jumped at the opportunity to go. One, I wanted- no, _needed_- to get away from my brothers and two, I thought that if I won you over, I could become King of Arendelle and show up my brothers. But then I met Anna and well, you know the rest.

"But seeing you, your sister, and Kristoff before the battle started, struck something in me. I realized that I want what you three have: love. I've never experienced that with my family and it kills me that I probably never will. But I want to be able to experience that with someone, even if it's not my family (if I can even call them that anymore). I just hope that, one day, I'll be able to know what it feels like to know love the way you do."

He sighed. "What I'm trying to say, El-Your Majesty, is that I'm sorry; for everything. Neither you, nor Princess Anna, deserved what I tried to do to you. And I know that everything I just explained to you doesn't excuse my actions but I _do_ want to change; I'm going to try to change for the better. All I ask is that you're willing to let me have one more do-over?"

Elsa stared at Hans for what seemed like forever, processing everything that he had told her. Finally, she opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out; she seemed to be struggling to find the right thing to say. Just as Hans opened up his mouth to speak, something very surprising happened: Elsa kissed him.

Initially, it caught him by surprise but he quickly recovered and kissed her back. The kiss was simple but passionate. It released a flurry of emotions that both had been keeping hidden for so long: Hans finally admitted to himself that he felt something for Elsa. He didn't know at the time if it was love, lust, or some weird emotion in between but all he knew was that he wanted to prove his worth to her; that he would change for her and prove that he could be trusted and that he was a good person. When the war was over, he would do what his mother wanted him to: he would get a job (along with the ice harvesting), live in the village, and make some genuine friends. He would do everything he could to earn Elsa and Anna's trust. If they were going to give him one last chance, then he wouldn't let this one slip through his fingers.

Elsa was a different story: what she felt for Hans scared her. She knew that she no longer hated him; if anything she pitied him and had also grown to care for and admire Hans. But she still wasn't sure that she could trust him, despite him saving her life twice. Plus, she still tensed up at his touch. So why was it so easy for her to kiss him? She didn't know, but for the one moment that they were kissing, Elsa felt relief. She felt that everything around her melted away, even if it was for a short moment. She didn't know what to think or what to feel. She couldn't even trust herself at this point. This was getting way too complicated for her to handle right now. And there was still a war going on outside these castle walls and she didn't have time to ponder her feelings for the former prince who once tried to kill her but was now asking for redemption.

Before Hans could comprehend what had just happened, Elsa pulled out of the kiss and when he opened his eyes she was gone, the only sign of her being there was the door left slightly ajar. Not sure what he would or could do next, he just sat in bed with the memory of that kiss burning in his mind.


	11. Chapter 10

_**AN: Sorry it took so long to update! It's been a crazy busy weekend! Anywho, I just wanted to tell you guys that updating may slow down for a bit because I'm still updating some chapters and integrating new ideas into the story. I think I'm close to done but it'll still be a while before it's completely finished. So, yeah, just wanted to let you know! Alright, enjoy!**_

_**Tallyho!**_

**Chapter 10:**

Hans would be on bed rest/house arrest for the next two weeks until his injuries healed. Meanwhile, the war raged on outside; though Nordstrom and Weselton were only sending in small amounts of soldiers at a time and since there were still quite a few Arendelle and ally soldiers who were uninjured in the first attack, they were able to keep them away. Most of the soldiers who sustained minor injuries were sent back into battle while those who received moderate injuries were put on catapult duty or were to help inside the hospital with the soldiers who received more extreme injuries like Hans. Some of the missing soldiers turned up over the past few weeks: some were injured but would live, others were in more critical condition and the doctors were unsure if they would survive. Unfortunately there were also some soldiers who appeared who hadn't survived the explosion or the fall into the water. They were placed in the morgue where all the other soldiers who had passed away were placed until the war was over and proper burial arrangements could be made.

After Hans had received his orders from the castle doctor, Hans asked to be move to the hospital wing with the other soldiers. He felt that it wasn't fair that he would get special accommodations while the other men didn't; the queen and princess agreed and moved him downstairs. After a week, Hans was no longer on bed rest but wasn't allowed to join back in the battle until he was finished recuperating. So he began to help out around the castle: helping soldiers in the hospital, helping Anna and Olaf (he freaked out when he first saw the snowman but soon got used to him) entertain the children and families who had taken refuge in the palace, and occasionally sharing stories with the soldiers who remained in the hospital.

When she wasn't on the battlefield or ensuring they had enough resources and supplies, Elsa would visit the soldiers and families to see how they were doing. Try as he could though, Hans could hardly get a moment alone with her to discuss what happened after he woke up. He understood that she had a lot on her mind at the time but he was starting to think she was avoiding him, considering the way she took off in a different direction anytime he got near her. Regardless, he needed to tell her what he felt for her; what she had inspired him to do for himself and for her. At one point, he considered telling Anna what he felt for her sister but disregarded the thought as soon as it came to him. He knew Anna wouldn't support him in his feelings; even if he had saved her sister's life twice, he was still the monster who once tried to kill both of them. There would be no way Anna would encourage him and he wouldn't blame her.

He still needed to confess his feelings to Elsa though. He didn't know when or how but he would. No matter her reaction, he needed her to know what he knew now: he was enamored with her. It began shortly after the kiss. He couldn't stop thinking about her; her smile, the sparkle in her eyes, the fight within her on the battlefield. And who could forget those incredible ice powers of hers. She looked majestic as she created snow, ice, and even wind with just her hands. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever laid his eyes on and eventually he admitted to himself that there was a chance that he liked the Snow Queen more than just admiring her. He knew it wouldn't be enough to confess what he felt for her though. He knew she still didn't completely trust him and with good reason. Despite saving her life (twice) he was still the man who tried to kill her and her sister. He didn't know how to earn her trust completely but it didn't matter. He would do whatever it took to to rightfully earn Elsa's (and Anna's) trust. He wanted Elsa to know that he meant it when he told her that he cared for her but he felt it would be better to earn her trust and become her friend before he went that far.

Another week passed. The war continued and Hans still hadn't told Elsa how he felt; but he finally got the clean bill of health he had been waiting for and was allowed to join the battle again. He wouldn't get his chance though; at least not yet. Right as Hans was about to run outside to help in the battle, someone was rushed into the hospital. As he tried to get a look at who it was, he saw a flash of blonde and immediately panicked. "Elsa," he spoke, running after the people who brought her in.

When he found her, the surgeon who worked on him was standing over her. Elsa was laying on a cot a red stain seeping through her shirt. "Get Princess Anna!" he heard someone yell but everything around him became a blur. He didn't even realize he was next to her until she poked his hand. "Hey," she said quietly.

"Hey," he responded, holding her hand with both of his. Despite her body being weak, she still had enough strength to tense up (again) to his touch. She saw the hurt in his eyes with this action and tried to play it off cool as if it was a reaction to being in pain.

"Looks like our positions have switched, huh?" she joked, trying to ease the tension.

Hans smiled a small smile. "I guess so."

"Elsa?!" he heard someone yell. He looked up to see Anna running towards to her sister. He let go of Elsa's hand and scooted over slightly so Anna would be able to comfort her sister.

The princess dropped to her knees and slid on the floor towards her sister, stopping only when she bumped into Hans. It took everything in him not to chuckle at the princess for her entrance; but one look back at Elsa and any laughter that was in him was gone.

"What happened?" Anna asked, frantically.

"I wasn't... paying attention…" Elsa grunted, the pain clearly etched on her face. "Got… shot by an... arrow."

"I need to take her to a separate room to operate on her immediately," the surgeon said.

"I'll come with you," Anna said, getting up with the nurses who were picking up Elsa on the cot.

"No, princess," the surgeon replied, "you should stay here. I promise I'll send someone for you as soon as I'm done." And with that, the Snow Queen was rushed off to somewhere else in the castle and Hans and Anna were left behind watching her go. As they stood there, Hans noticed something shiny on the ground near the area where the surgeon had run off to with the queen. He walked towards it to find a necklace with a silver pendant in the shape of a snowflake - Elsa's snowflake. He remembered Anna giving something to Elsa before the first battle; he wondered if this was it.

He turned around to find that the princess hadn't moved an inch since he walked away. He walked towards her hesitantly. "Anna?" he said. She didn't respond; she was still staring into space. It wasn't until he reached for her that he realized she was shaking. He reached for her hand and placed the necklace into her palm. This seemed to bring her back to reality. She looked down to what Hans had placed into her hand, closed it into a fist, and then dropped to floor, crying.

Hans bent down next to her, trying to soothe her but nothing he tried worked. Just as he was about to try to get her to move somewhere more secluded, Kristoff came running inside the hospital area. The second he saw Anna, he ran up to her and pulled her into him where she began sobbing relentlessly. Kristoff only held her as Hans stood up and motioned with his head that they should move. Kristoff agreed but Anna wouldn't budge so he picked her up, bridal style, and carried her into the nearby study. Hans didn't follow them in though; he only opened the door for Kristoff who nodded in thanks towards the former prince. After getting them inside, he left them alone assuming they needed some time by themselves; he wanted some alone time himself too. He decided to wander the castle

His plans to go back into the battle didn't matter anymore. Elsa - his Elsa - was badly hurt and he didn't know if she would live. If she didn't, then he didn't know what he would do; a life without the one you care about most wasn't a life at all. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore; he leaned against a wall and slid to the floor. Bringing his knees to his chest, he sat and prayed that Elsa would live. He didn't know who he was praying to but it didn't stop him. It was only when he started crying that he stopped because he couldn't think anymore. He sat there, crying, until he finally drifted off to sleep hoping there would be good news when he awoke.

Hans woke up to someone shaking his knee. He opened his eyes to find Olaf the Snowman staring at him with his big eyes.

"Ahh!" Hans yelled, falling over.

"Oh! Sorry!" Olaf exclaimed, helping Hans back up. "Did I scare you?"

"No," Hans grunted, moving back to a sitting position, "I just wasn't prepared to see you here. I figured you'd be waiting for Elsa."

"I was. She just woke up a few minutes ago."

"She's okay?" Hans asked, hopefully.

"Yep! She asked me to go get Anna which where I was heading to before I found you. Are you okay?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Listen, Olaf, do you know where she is?"

"Sure! She's in her room! Just walk down the hall and turn right then right again and you'll come to a door with blue markings on it. That's where she'll be."

"Thanks, Olaf!" Hans said, getting up and running off using the directions that Olaf gave him. When he arrived, he hesitated before knocking; but before he could, he heard a beautiful yet strained voice say "Come in."

Hans opened the door, timidly, to find the Snow Queen sitting up in bed, reading a book. Her hair, still in her signature braid, was messier than usual; she looked paler than she normally did and had a bandage around her side but otherwise, she looked okay. He breathed a small sigh of relief before clearing his throat. Elsa looked up.

"Hans," she said, closing her book and smiling. "I wasn't expecting you. I figured you would be Anna or the doctor."

Hans was still standing in the doorway. He rubbed the back of his neck while speaking. "I, uh, ran into Olaf in the hallway; or he more ran into me. But he said that you were awake and I wanted to see how you were."

"Well, please come in," she said, patting a space next to her on the bed since there was no chair for him to sit in.

Hans closed the door and obliged. "So how do you feel?" he asked, looking at her bandaged side as he sat on the bed. "You look pale."

She looked at him incredulously. "Well… pal_er_," he corrected. She rolled her eyes but both chuckled at Hans' comment. "Seriously though, how are you?" he asked.

"Surprisingly, not that bad. The wound looked worse than it was which is nice. The arrow didn't actually pierce anything, thankfully; it just scratched me really badly. But I'm fine; I've still been put on some weird painkiller drug though. I don't know what it is but it works wonders. I don't feel anything! I'm going to have to get an extra stash for when Anna and I are sick!"

Hans chuckled. "Your sister was right. You _are_ resilient."

"It's a gift," she shrugged and winked at Hans.

He ran his fingers through his hair before speaking again. "So what now? What's going to happen with the war?"

Elsa began to take her hair out of her messy braid and let it fall completely down before speaking. "What I know right now, is that because my wound wasn't as bad as it looked, my recovery time won't be very long. A couple days at most. Afterwards, I'm going back out there to finish this war once and for all. I've got some unfinished business with Weselton and I don't intend to let them go easily. As for Nordstrom, I'll show them that they should never have messed with the Snow Queen or her kingdom. Then I'll send them home like scared dogs with their tails between their legs. Hopefully that will be the end of this stupid war. Then everyone can go home and we'll be safe once again."

Hans admired her determination. She was a great queen but an even greater warrior when she wanted to be. But he wasn't about to let her be a warrior alone. "With your permission," he began, "I'd like to help out the Snow Queen in anyway that I can."

"Permission granted," Elsa said, smirking. By now, she had combed through her hair with her fingers and was was re-braiding it. A couple of bang pieces had fallen into Elsa's face; Hans reached hesitantly to push them aside but left his hand on her cheek afterwards. Elsa tensed up at first but as if something in her changed, she leaned her face into his hand before looking into his big green eyes with a mixture of sadness and admiration.

"What's wrong?" Hans asked.

Elsa shook her head against his hand and smiled a small smile. "Nothing, just thinking."

"About what-?" Hans was interrupted by the bedroom door opening and a frazzled looking Anna entered calling Elsa's name. Hans removed his hand from the queen's face before the princess saw anything. Anna looked at her sister and the former prince. "Oh, sorry, am I interrupting something?"

Hans sighed. "No, not at all. I was just leaving."

He patted Elsa's hand as he got up. He looked back at Anna who had moved to the other side of the bed before looking back at his queen. "I'm glad that you're okay and that I hope you feel better soon."

Elsa nodded as Hans let go of her hand. "Thank you; I appreciate it."

Hans bowed towards the queen and princess before walking out of the room, aware of Elsa's eyes on his back the entire time.

As Hans left, he heaved a sigh and began walking to he didn't know where. He didn't get far before he heard a voice say "You're in love with her."

He turned around to find Kristoff looking at - well, more analyzing - him. "What?" Hans asked.

"Elsa; you're in love with her."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Hans said, trying to play it cool.

"You're a good liar, Hans; but not that good." Kristoff said, raising an eyebrow.

Hans sighed in defeat and looked out a nearby window. It was the first time he had thought the word: love. He had been preventing himself to say that word because, frankly, he was scared. He was scared that if he admitted that he loved someone, the guard he had spent years building would come crashing down. And yet, he felt relieved to admit it: he loved someone. And not just anyone, _Elsa_! He loved the Snow Queen. And sure enough, as soon as he admitted it, he felt his wall come crashing down. Feeling vulnerable, he crossed his arms, using them as a barrier for his emotions. "What about it?" he asked Kristoff.

"Are you going to tell her?"

Hans looked at Kristoff incredulously. "You're joking right? The former Prince of the Southern Isles and attempted murderer confessing his feelings for the Snow Queen of Arendelle? Sounds like a bad play. And yet," he said, defeated, "that's exactly what I was going to do. But who am I kidding? She would never feel the same for me."

"I wouldn't be so sure if I were you," Kristoff said.

The former prince looked at the ice harvester, confused. "What are you talking about?"

"You saved her life; twice, she let you into her room, which she never lets _anyone_ into except Anna, and she wouldn't leave you alone when you were injured. _And_, she remained relatively relaxed when you touched her just now (I saw your hand on her face when Anna opened the door). Do you have any idea how difficult it is for Elsa to relax to anyone's touch except those who are closest to her? And she just lowered her guard with you, just now. Whether Elsa knows it or not, she loves you. I see it in her eyes. She looks at you the same way I look at Anna."

Hans was looking out the window, turning over Kristoff's words in his head. "I want to change for her but I don't how or where to start," he said.

Kristoff sighed. "You don't see it do you?"

The former prince looked back at him. "I don't see what?"

"You _have _changed. For Heaven's sake, you jumped into the battlefield in order to help Elsa move her Captain of the Guard off to a safer area before running back out with her and protecting her. Then you practically risked your own life in order to get the enemy ships to back off. Now you're seen as a hero. Although I knew very little of you, the Hans that I saw last year would _never _have done that; especially for someone you tried to kill."

For what seemed like the millionth time, Hans looked down in shame. He looked up at Kristoff when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Look, I don't know you very well so this may end up being all for not. But if you really want to change for Elsa, focus on making her happy. You do that, then you may actually be able to win her heart and her trust."

Hans nodded. "Thanks."

"Good luck," Kristoff said, before walking off and leaving Hans alone to stare out the window thinking of ways to make Elsa happy and win her heart the right way.


	12. Chapter 11

**_AN: Happy Independence Day, my fellow Americans! And for those of you who don't celebrate the 4th of July, I hope you have a wonderful Friday and weekend filled with unicorns and puppies and laughter! ...Too much? Okay. Any-who, here's a new chapter! Enjoy!_**

**_Tallyho!_**

**Chapter 11:**

Elsa healed much quicker than expected; within a couple days, the Snow Queen was back on her feet and ready to end this war once and for all. Both sides were taking a break. Nordstrom and Weselton had been relentless with their attacks but Arendelle, the Northern and Southern Isles, and Corona had been able to retaliate quite well and keep the enemy forces far back enough that the casualties had decreased dramatically. The final soldiers who had been injured in the initial attack had been cleared and were either back with the other soldiers or were placed on resource duty if they couldn't fight anymore. The ice harvesters who hadn't volunteered to fight went back up the North Mountain to get some more ice blocks for the catapults. By the time they were back, Elsa was standing in front of the soldiers, preparing to make a speech.

"You have all fought valiantly for Arendelle," she began. "I could not be more grateful for the Northern and Southern Isles and Corona allying with us against our enemies. We have, however, unfortunately lost some of the greatest soldiers and men I have ever met. But I promise you, their deaths will not be in vain. Because today, we end this war. Today, we show Nordstrom and Weselton what happens when they attack my kingdom, my people, and my allies. We will _not_ let our enemies win! You pledged your allegiance to your kingdom, my kingdom, and myself. Well, I pledge my allegiance to you and your kingdoms as well as my own. I will fight alongside you on this day and we _will_ be victorious! Today, marks the end of a war, and the beginning of a new era! Together, we stand taller than ever before! And we will win! We'll win for the ones we love, the ones we lost, and the ones we vowed to protect. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm ready for this war to be over and done with for good! Who's with me?!"

The soldiers cheered loudly and began to chant "All hail Queen Elsa!" The Snow Queen smiled and bowed to her soldiers; every single one returned the gesture.

"Good," she said, "now let's end this."

She turned around and faced the water, waiting for Nordstrom and Weselton forces to show up. Hans walked up next to the queen. "Very inspirational speech, Your Majesty," he said.

"Thank you," she replied.

They were silent for a while before Hans looked at Elsa and noticed something around her neck.

"Hey, you got your necklace back," he pointed out.

Elsa looked down and touched the pendant. "Yeah, Anna said you found it and gave it to her. Thank you for that. I don't know what I would've done had I lost this," she said, smiling.

"Glad I could help," he smiled back. He looked away from her into the horizon and noticed ships in the distance; he felt Elsa tense next to him.

"Shall we?" he asked her.

She looked back at him and smirked. "Gladly."

It didn't take long for the ships get near the docks but they would never get any farther. With a flick of her wrist, Elsa froze the fjord, trapping the Weselton and Nordstrom forces on the now ice covered water. She nodded to Kristoff, who was in charge of the catapults, and he let the first round of ice blocks fly towards the enemy navy units while the Arendellian and ally units marched to the fjord. As soon as the Weselton and Nordstrom forces realized they were trapped, soldiers began to jump down and march towards Elsa and her soldiers while others stayed on the ships and began shooting arrows - burning and non-burning.

Very soon, all anyone could see was fighting; ice blocks were flying through the air and hitting their targets nicely while ground forces were fighting with swords, arrows, and ice powers alike. Very quickly realizing that her forces had control of the ground, Elsa decided it was time to take care of the forces on the ships. She ran off in the direction of the biggest ship in the enemy fleet: Nordstrom's command ship; she knew if she could gain control of that then she might be able to end the war a lot quicker and easier. Dodging arrows and soldiers by throwing up ice shields, Elsa made it to the ship and began climbing. When she reached the deck, she was surprised to find three people she hoped she'd never see again: it was the Duke of Weselton and his two henchmen.

"You," she spat.

"Surprised, Your Majesty?" The Duke replied.

"To be honest, yes. You've got a lot of nerve showing your face here, Duke."

"Yes, but I came with extra backup this time so I've got an advantage."

"_You've_ got the advantage?!" Elsa exclaimed. "Do you not see the backup that I have? If I were you, I'd say you were at a _dis_advantage."

The Duke was about to respond before he and Elsa heard a grunting from the side of the ship. Suddenly, Hans jumped on the deck. "Queen Elsa!" he yelled, running to her side.

"Hans, what are you doing here?!" she practically yelled.

"Helping," he replied.

Elsa had to resist groaning; this sounded all too familiar. Before she could respond, the Duke began to chuckle.

"Well, would you look at that?" he said.

Elsa and Hans looked at the Duke and his henchmen. "Look at what?" she spat.

The Duke nodded towards Hans. "Your new _pet._ I had heard from some soldiers that the former prince was working with you but I had to see it before I believe it. Who would've thought that the queen's attempted murderer would end up being her sidekick in war. This will be interesting tale to take back home. Tell me, how exactly do you know that you can trust him?"

Elsa raised an eyebrow. "Easy; he's _earned _it."

The Duke rolled his eyes. Elsa relaxed her shoulders and took a few steps towards him. She knew what she was going to do could be trivial but she had to try. "It doesn't have to be this way, Duke. We can work this out like the civilized countries that we are. We can settle a new treaty. Please. How many more people have to get hurt or die before this war can end?"

The Duke looked at the queen with a look mixed between sympathy and disgust. She knew he wanted to reestablish trade between the two kingdoms but she didn't know if his pride would allow him. And just as quickly as she thought there would be a change of heart, the Duke said no. "You're a sorceress who needs to be stopped and destroyed. I will not have the people of Weselton live knowing there's someone like _you_ out there!"

Elsa sighed. "Fourth mistake."

"Fourth mistake? What do you mean _fourth _mistake?" the Duke asked, glancing at the sky. There was a huge funnel of snow clouds above them now with snow beginning to flurry around them.

"First mistake," Elsa began, bringing her powers to their full potential now, "was trying to have me killed on my coronation night." She shot an enormous shard of ice through the bow of the ship. "Second, was allying with Nordstrom," she shot another ice shard through the stern. "Third, was coming back to Arendelle and attacking my home," she put both hands above her head. The Duke and his henchmen were genuinely scared now and Elsa could see it in their eyes. She hesitated before speaking. "And fourth, was putting your own people in debt and danger because of your pride and ignorance. I'm sorry, Duke." And with one swing of her arms, Elsa summoned ice shards and an avalanche of snow through the middle of the ship causing it to break in half. The Duke and his henchmen were hit by the impact of the avalanche and disappeared as the ship began to split. Elsa grabbed Hans' hand and ran towards the edge of the ship.

"Do you trust me?" she asked him.

"Yes," he breathed, seemingly still in shock after watching what Elsa just did.

"Good; hang on!" With a flick of her hand, Elsa created a huge snow pile on the fjord to create a soft landing. Then, without warning, she yelled "JUMP!" and pulled Hans with her onto the snow landing she had created before the ship split completely in half, hit the fjord, and shattered the ice around it.

The battle on the ground had all but died out. Most of the enemy forces were either arrested or dead. As Elsa and Hans stood up from their jump, they began noticing the enemy ships putting up white flags as a sign of truce. Elsa breathed heavily as she looked around watching Nordstrom and Weselton forces back down; she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"Did… did you.. did we just...?" Hans sputtered, just as surprised and breathless as she was.

"Yeah," she said, looking at him and smiling. They looked at each other and smiled before she jumped into him and hugged him as tight as she could. She could've stayed that way forever but was interrupted by a terrifying thought.

"Wait, where is the Duke and his henchmen?" she asked, pulling away from Hans.

He looked at her, his eyes widening as they came to the realization of what happened. Elsa turned around, wide-eyed and terrified, and ran towards one of the soldiers who was near the shipwreck. "Have you found any sign of the Duke of Weselton? Or his henchmen?" she asked, frantically.

The soldier looked at her with sad eyes. "I haven't, Your Majesty. I'm sorry."

Elsa felt her heart break. _What have I done?_ she thought to herself. She felt two hands lightly touch her arms; she turned around and looked into the green eyes of Hans before burying her face into his shirt, not even bothering to tense up as he wrapped his arms around her. She was so tired and and at a loss of what to feel, she just needed someone to hold her and make her feel safe; which Hans happened to do. He didn't say a word; he simply held her just as Anna had done at her ice palace all those weeks ago.

The Snow Queen didn't know what to feel. She was happy that her people were finally safe but she had killed in the process which is something that she had never intended to do. Despite feeling conflicted, she decided that could vent her emotions later at her ice palace. Putting on a brave face, she pulled away from Hans, smiled to reassure him that she was okay and walked off towards the docks with Hans following behind. As they reached land, she asked her new Captain of the Guard if everyone was off the water. When he answered yes, Elsa thawed the ice and returned the fjord to it's former glory; she even moved the split ship closer to the docks so it could be used for building materials around Arendelle. When she was done, she noticed that it was extremely quiet. She turned around to find Arendellian and allied soldiers and her people and sister all standing around various areas of the village and looking at her. Elsa looked among everyone and smiled a small smile; then she saw movement to her left. When she looked she saw that Hans was bowing to her; and then everyone else began to bow or curtsey to her. Elsa's breathing was shaky but she smiled at all of them before looking back out on the fjord horizon, lost in deep thought.


	13. Chapter 12

_**AN: Alright, bit of a filler chapter here. Next one will also (kind of) be a filler but it's just setting up for something that will come in Chapter 14 and on. So bear with me here. Thank you to everyone for the wonderful reviews and followers and even those who are just reading as guests. You guys are awesome. So without any further adieu, here's Chapter 12! Enjoy!**_

_**Tallyho!**_

**Chapter 12:**

Three days had passed since the final battle. With the help of the citizens who volunteered, the cleanup process had been extremely quick and businesses were beginning to open up again. Elsa had sent letters out to her allies to tell them of the news; she had also included a list of all the soldiers who had given their lives for their kingdoms. She requested that the rulers of the kingdoms as well as the families of the fallen come to Arendelle for a chance to pay their respects before sending them back to their respective home to their final resting place; they all agreed. They would be in Arendelle within the next few days.

Elsa laid in bed, wide awake, her mind rushing with a thousand thoughts at once. She hadn't gotten the chance to go to her ice palace yet because she had been so busy. Nighttime was the only time she had to be alone with her thoughts. What happened with the Duke of Weselton haunted her; it would probably haunt her for the rest of her life. She never intended for any more people to die; especially the Duke or his henchmen. She just wanted the war to end and she knew that if she destroyed the command ship, it would. She never anticipated the lives it would take in the process.

Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. She had to get out of the castle before her head exploded. Grabbing a cloak out of her wardrobe, she snuck out her room and out a back door of the castle. As soon as she was out, she ran to the stables, grabbed her horse, and took off towards the North Mountain. After arriving at her ice palace, she tied her horse to the staircase railing and went up to her favorite spot: the balcony.

Walking towards the edge, she dropped her cloak and took a deep breath. For the first time in a long time, she felt like she could finally do whatever she wanted: cry, scream, exhaust her powers, anything. But she did none of them. She didn't cry or scream or even use her powers because she couldn't; at least at that time. She felt sad for what happened to the Duke but no matter what, she couldn't bring herself to cry. Finally, she admitted to herself that maybe she couldn't cry because she knew that the Duke didn't deserve her tears. She felt remorse and heartbroken, but she knew that deep down the Duke didn't deserve it because he attacked her and her kingdom more than once; and someone who tries to kill the queen multiple times doesn't deserve her sympathy. But just so she could allow herself to feel better, she created a small pile of snow in her hand. "Rest in peace, Duke. Your henchmen too." And then she blew the snow away into the wind, releasing her sorrow and pain with it. She knew it wouldn't make her nightmares go away forever but at least she felt a little bit better.

She took another deep breath and looked at the sky and smiled. "Look Anna," she said to herself, "the sky's awake."

"So you're awake," she heard a familiar voice say.

Elsa turned around to find her sister standing in the entrance to the balcony, smiling at her. The queen smiled at her sister. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough," the princess said, joining her sister at the edge of the balcony.

"How'd you know I'd be here?" Elsa asked.

"I heard shuffling in the hallway and when I looked out, I saw you running towards the back entrance. I figured you would come here so I decided to follow you at a distance and let you have a moment before letting you know I was here."

Elsa leaned a head on her sister's shoulder. "How are you, Anna?"

"I'm fine. Better now that the war is over and you and Kristoff are safe. How are you, Elsa? Really."

The Snow Queen sighed as she lifted her head up and looked into the horizon. "I've been better," she admitted. "I mean, I killed three people, Anna. That's not something I can get over easily. And I know it was for the greater good or whatever but it didn't need to happen. I'll be okay though… hopefully."

"Hopefully?"

Elsa sighed. "Someday. But with everything returning to normal, I think it will be easier to cope."

"Is it?" Anna asked.

"Is what?" Elsa asked, confused.

"Is everything returning to normal, Elsa? I mean not for the kingdom; they're strong, they can bounce back to normal pretty quick. I mean for you. Will everything return to normal for you?"

"I hope so," Elsa replied. "I mean, it will be quite a relief to not have to worry about a war but now I have to make sure trade between our allies is going to be okay and I have to deal with Weselton and Nordstrom but fortunately, I have the Council to help me with that so I won't go too crazy. And as long as I have you helping me, I know I can handle it all."

"What about Hans?"

Elsa looked at her sister, quizzically. "What do you mean 'what about Hans?'"

"What happens to him?"

"Well, I assume he will return with his family to the Southern Isles. He redeemed himself here by a landslide. He'll probably return to his home a hero, earn his title back, and live his life out happily as a new man."

Elsa was surprised to find her sister staring at her incredulously. "What?"

Anna rolled her eyes. "You know what."

"No, I don't actually. Enlighten me, please."

Anna looked at her sister, exasperated. "What if he doesn't want to leave?"

"Have you heard something?"

"It's not what I hear, Elsa, it's what I see. Okay, that's a lie because I did hear something but that's not the point."

"What is the point then?"

Anna looked at Elsa in disbelief. "Are you trying to ignore what's right in front of you? Hans is in love with you!"

Now it was Elsa's turn to look at her sister in disbelief. "What? No, he's not-"

"Yes he is. I can see it in the way he looks at you."

"He also looked at you with love and then tried to murder both of us."

Anna nodded. "Fair enough; but this time it's real."

"How would you know?"

"He told Kristoff."

"He what?"

"Or-well, he didn't exactly tell Kristoff. Kristoff just guessed and even though Hans didn't directly say it, he admitted it by his body language."

"How do you know Kristoff wasn't just misreading his body language?" Elsa tried to ask, skeptically.

"You forget Kristoff was raised by 'love experts.' I may be his first love but he knows enough to tell when someone, in this case Hans, is in love." Anna paused before finishing her thought. "And whether you've admitted it to yourself or not, you're in love with him too."

Elsa looked at her sister surprised. "W-What? No, I'm not!"

Anna looked at her sister with an expression that screamed 'seriously? it's obvious.'

Defeated, Elsa huffed and looked out into the horizon again. "What does it matter? We can't be together anyway."

"Why not?"

"Are you kidding? Queen of Arendelle falls in love with former attempted murderer? The Council would beyond freak out. Plus, how do I know that I can trust him? Every time we've touched I tense up."

"Okay, yes, he attempted to kill both of us in the past. But now he's considered a hero for what he did on the first day of battle. And after you were injured, I thought Hans would die right then and there; he looked like he could. The only other person who looked as devastated as he was that you were injured was me. I've never seen such concern and love in those eyes than I saw that day. And all he's done afterwards is look at you with awe. He's crazy about you and you feel the same about him. And I saw his hand on your face when he was in your room. You seemed plenty relaxed then so something tells me the tensing up is a defense mechanism because you're too afraid to let your guard down. And as for trusting him, I thought you already did?"

Elsa sighed and put her head in her hands. "I do but I don't. It's complicated."

"Look, I understand you're skeptical. But let him prove to you that he can be trusted. Even if you're just friends. He can earn your trust that way and it gives both of you a chance to learn more about each other. I think it'd be good for both of you."

Elsa lifted her head and looked at her sister. "Why are you supporting us?"

Anna sighed. "Because I want you to be happy. And if Hans is what makes you happy, then I'm okay with that. Plus, I forgave him for what he did when he saved your life. I think the real question is are you going to give him a chance?"

Elsa sighed. "I don't know. I need to think about everything."

"Well you better think quick because when the Southern Isles ships leave, he leaves too."


	14. Chapter 13

_**AN: Hello, my lovelies! Sorry it took so long to update, it's been a crazy weekend! Congrats to Germany for winning the World Cup and great job to all the teams who participated. Also, HAPPY HELSA WEEK! I'm so excited for this because that means new Helsa stuff all week on Tumblr (don't judge, it's my first time doing any OTP week ever). ANYWAY, another filler chapter here but the next one is where things start to get interesting. I hope you lovelies enjoy!**_

_**Tallyho!**_

**Chapter 13:**

"You want to do WHAT?!" Elsa screeched.

"I'm sorry Your Majesty but it must be done." one council member said.

Elsa was in a meeting with her council and the monarchs from the Southern Isles. The Coronan and Northern Isles representatives had come and gone already but the Arendellian council had requested that King Magnus and Queen Lila come to Arendelle to discuss urgent matters. These "matters" consisted of one thing: that despite all that he did for Arendelle during the war, a trial must be held against Hans in order to determine whether or not he should be pardoned or punished for his crimes in the past.

"I don't understand," Elsa began. "He saved my life and Arendelle! Why does that not pardon him?"

"In case you're forgetting Your Majesty, Hans did attempt to murder you and your sister last year as well as take over the throne. Even if he is the 'hero of Arendelle,' his crimes of treason are much more severe and they cannot be ignored."

Elsa sighed, exasperated. She looked to King Magnus and Queen Lila for help. "What do you think, King Magnus?" Elsa asked.

The Southern Isles king shook his head in sadness. "As much as it pains me to say it, your council is right, Queen Elsa. Hans' actions in the war do not excuse or fix what he did in the past. We can only hope that the judge and jury will be fair and understanding during his trial and decide to pardon him."

Elsa felt her heart breaking. She just wanted to be over and done with everything: Hans' actions last year, the war, the Duke of Weselton's death. She just wanted everything to be normal again. She knew too well, however, that nothing would be normal for quite sometime. Trying to control her frustration, she turned to Lord Lucas. "What happens if Hans is pardoned?"

"Exactly that." Lord Lucas responded. "Hans is acquitted of all charges against him, he will get his title back, and return to the life he had before his actions."

"And what if he's found guilty?" Elsa asked. She knew the answer but prayed that there might be a chance that she was wrong.

Lord Lucas hesitated before answering. "If found guilty, Hans will receive the ultimate sentence: execution."

Elsa heard Queen Lila choke back a sob as her own heart ripped in two. Quickly realizing she was losing control of her powers, she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm herself, thankful she wore her gloves today.

When she finally opened her eyes, she looked only at Lord Lucas, who looked very concerned that Elsa might release her powers any minute. Elsa took one more deep breath before speaking. "Very well," she said. "Schedule the trial for a week from today. The sooner, the better. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go take care of something."

Before anyone could say anything, Elsa was out of the room and down the hall heading she didn't know where. Finally, she ended up at one of the palace balconies, staring out at the ocean. Struggling to control her powers, Elsa let a few tears fall down her face. She wasn't sure how she would handle Hans' trial. She wanted to believe so badly that he would be pardoned but something in her gut was telling her otherwise. Before she could delve any deeper into that gut feeling, she heard a voice call out to her.

Wiping her eyes, she turned around and found Kristoff standing in front of her.

"Hey," she said as he approached her.

"Hey," he said, "you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I've just got a lot on my mind. What's up?"

Kristoff eyed her suspiciously but shrugged, assuming if she wanted to tell him that she would have. "Well, I was wondering if I could talk to you… alone?"

Skeptical but curious, Elsa nodded. "Sure, follow me."

They walked to Elsa's study where they could speak privately. After both entered and Elsa closed the door, she got right to the point. "Alright, I can tell that you're nervous. What's up?"

Kristoff sighed as he began to pace back and forth. "Elsa, I know I haven't known you or your sister for very long but this past year has been the best one of my life (excluding the war, of course); and I hope to experience many more great ones like this one." It was clear he had rehearsed this. "Anna means the world to me and I don't want to live another day without knowing that she will be by my side for the rest of my life. So I guess what I'm asking is," he paused while Elsa struggled to hide her smile, figuring out what he was going to ask. "May I have your permission to ask your sister's hand in marriage?"

Elsa was grinning now. "Kristoff, I have never seen my sister happier than she's been with you this past year. And I have no doubt that you two will continue to make each other happy for the rest of your lives. She trusts you with all of her heart and you have certainly earned my trust over the year as well. Of course you have my permission!"

Kristoff had a huge grin on his face when Elsa gave him his answer. He picked her up and gave her a huge bear hug that caused her to laugh. When he put her down, she began asking him questions of how he was going to propose and if he had a ring picked out yet. He pulled a small box out of his pocket and gave it to Elsa to look at. The band was gold with blue and green gems on both sides leading up to a beautiful emerald in the center; as Elsa turned the ring around in her hand, she noticed an engraving on the inside of the ring. It had five simple words inside: _An act of true love…_

Elsa looked at Kristoff and smiled. "Do you think it's too much?" he asked.

"I think it's perfect and she's going to love it," she said, putting the ring back in the box and handing it back to him. "Now, about your proposal…"

"Why are we out here again?" Anna asked, confused.

"Because I need fresh air and I figured we could put some extra flowers around the castle to bring everyone's spirits up," Elsa replied.

Anna raised an eyebrow at her sister but shrugged. As she turned her back, Elsa tip-toed off to a different part of the garden. She could here Anna calling her name. "I'm over here!" Elsa responded. When she was sure, Anna would find her, Elsa took off in a different direction to hide and watch what would happen.

She peaked around a corner and saw Anna walk to the garden gazebo where she found, not her sister, but Kristoff instead.

"Kristoff? What are you doing here? Have you seen Elsa? And… why are you all dressed up?" Kristoff was wearing a nice suit that Elsa had picked out for him.

"Do you not like it?" he asked, nervously.

"No, no, I do. I've just… never seen you so… dapper."

Kristoff smiled a small smile and saw movement out of the corner of his eye. It was Elsa making a thumbs up gesture to encourage him. He took a breath before speaking.

"Anna, I know we've only known each other for a little over a year but it's been the best year of my life and… um… well… I… uh… " he trailed off, his confidence clearly waning. Although Elsa had helped him prepare a speech, it was clear that what they had worked on wasn't going to cut it. Elsa caught his attention again and gave a gesture that said 'just go with it.'

He took another deep breath and cut right to the chase. "Anna, I love you. I love everything about you: I love your quirks and your smile. I love the way your eyes light up when you get excited or when you smell chocolate. I love how you'll always want to build a snowman no matter what the weather is. I love that you always see the good in people. And I love that you've made me happier than I ever thought I could be with someone; and you know how much I hated people." Anna chuckled at his comment. "There are probably hundreds of princes and other royal people who could give you the world and I know that I'm not good enough but I will do whatever it takes to be good enough for you. What I'm trying to say is that I don't want to go another day of my life without knowing that you'll be by my side every day for the rest of forever." Anna gasped as he got down on one knee and brought out the ring box. "Princess Anna of Arendelle, will you do me the honor becoming my wife?"

Anna squealed and hug-tackled Kristoff and kissed him. Elsa took that as her cue; she set her foot hard on the ground and set a trail of ice towards the gazebo that covered it completely with beautiful icicles and finished it off with a shot of snow around the happy couple. Anna and Kristoff looked up and smiled as he put the ring on her finger. She looked at him with a loving smile. "No matter what anybody says, you'll always be good enough for me," she said as she kissed him again. As both stood up, Anna looked to where the ice came from and gave her sister (now revealed from her hiding spot) a knowing smile.

"Why am I not surprised that you knew?" Anna said, still smiling.

"Of course, I knew!" Elsa responded, laughing while entering the gazebo. "I wasn't going to let my baby sister get married to just anyone without my permission or without my ensuring the proposal would go well!" She hugged her sister and soon-to-be brother-in-law.

"You take care of my baby sister now, you hear, Bjorgman?" Elsa told Kristoff.

"With my life, Your Majesty," he replied, the biggest grin both girls had ever seen plastered on his face.

"You know what?" Elsa said, clasping her hands together. "I think this calls for some celebratory hot chocolate! What do you say?"

Anna giggled and linked arms with her sister while entwining her fingers with her new fiance's. "I think that sounds great!"

The three walked back inside the castle talking about wedding plans and who would tell Olaf and Sven. Although Kristoff and Anna were blissfully unaware of an extra set of eyes among them, Elsa sensed someone was watching her. She looked up and saw Hans on a balcony watching the scene in front of him with sad eyes. Elsa's heart swelled with sadness as she thought of what he would have to face in the next week. Looking away from him and back to her sister, she put on a fake smile (despite being genuinely happy for her sister) all the while her mind remaining on the green eyed prince who had captured her heart and feared for his impending date with fate.


	15. Chapter 14

_**AN: So I'm way too excited for this chapter to wait a week to post it so I'm updating early! Hooray! This is one of my favorite chapters so I hope that you guys like it as much as I do! Enjoy!**_

_**Tallyho!**_

**Chapter 14:**

It was the day of the trial. Elsa felt sick to her stomach. She wasn't sure how she was going to make it through the day. She could only imagine what Hans' parents were feeling right now. They were about to witness their son go on trial and meet his fate. Although Elsa (with the help of Anna) tried to stay positive, she couldn't shake the horrible feeling that the trial was not going to go as she wished.

As the courtroom began to fill, Elsa took some deep breaths in order to control her anxiety. She knew she had control of her powers now but she still couldn't help but worry that she might start making it snow during the trial. Anna came over and sat next to her sister and held her hands in order to comfort Elsa. Elsa gave a small smile to her sister in thanks but it quickly disappeared when she saw Hans' parents walk into the room. Queen Lila looked at Elsa and gave her a small hopeful smile which Elsa tried to return but couldn't help but feel anything but hopeful.

Finally, Hans walked in and the judge followed shortly after. The room became completely silent as the judge sat down.

"Hans Westergard of the Southern Isles, you are here today for the crimes of attempted murders of the Queen and Princess of Arendelle and high treason. How do you plead?"

There was a pause before Hans looked the judge in the eye and said "Guilty, Your Honor."

There was a slight murmur among the crowd and small gasps coming from both Queen Lila and Elsa.

The judge looked surprised for a moment before regaining his composure and looking to the jury. "Counsel, have you made a decision?"

"We have, Your Honor. The people have agreed to the death sentence."

"Mr. Westergard, do you know that by pleading guilty you lose the right to a jury trial?"

"Yes, Your Honor."

"Do you give up that right?"

"Yes, Your Honor."

"Did anyone force you into accepting this settlement?"

"No, Your Honor."

"Are you pleading guilty because you in fact attempted to murder the Queen and Princess and committed an act of high treason against Arendelle?"

"Yes, Your Honor."

"Mr. Westergard, you are hereby sentenced to death for the acts of high treason and attempted murder. The sentence will take place next week. Court dismissed."

With the slam of his gavel, the trial was over. The crowd immediately began talking loudly, surprised that the former prince had plead guilty. Hans' parents were trying to keep a brave face as he was escorted out of the room. Elsa watched him the entire time, losing track of everything else going on around her. Before Hans walked out the door, he looked at Elsa with his sad green eyes and mouthed "I'm sorry" before leaving the courtroom. Anna had to snap her fingers in front of Elsa in order to get her attention.

"Huh, what?" Elsa asked, coming back to reality.

"We should get out of here." Anna said, looking back at the crowd that was now starting to thin out. "We can talk when we get back home."

However, Elsa didn't talk much when they returned back to the castle. She, Anna, Kristoff, and Olaf were all in Elsa's study talking about the verdict. Everyone's spirits seemed to be a lot lower than usual; even Olaf wasn't his usual optimistic self. Eventually Elsa excused herself and said she was going to bed. But she didn't go to bed. She wandered the castle for a while, lost in her own thoughts before she realized where she was heading. She realized she was walking in the direction of the palace dungeons. Suddenly, a crazy idea had popped into her head. She wasn't sure if it would work but she figured she would give it a shot. Looking around her, she made sure no one was watching before pulling her hood on her cloak over her head and heading straight for the darkness of the dungeons.

Walking into the dungeons, Elsa grabbed a nearby lantern to light her way. Because it was so late into the night, most of the prisoners who were in the dungeons were asleep so it was easier for her to get to the cell she wanted to reach. When she reached it, there were two guards standing in front of it. Lowering her hood, slightly, the guards bowed to Elsa.

"I'd like to speak to the prisoner in this cell. Alone." she said, quietly.

"Are you sure, Your Majesty?" one guard asked. "He's a dangerous man. He can't be trusted."

Elsa smiled. "I appreciate your concern, but I'm pretty sure I can hold my own." She held up her hand and created a small flurry of snow. "Snow Queen, remember?"

"Of course, Your Majesty." both guards said. Unlocking the door, Elsa slid in, holding up the lantern to find the man she wanted to see. He was sitting on a lumpy cot with shackles around his wrists and his head in his hands. His breathing was shaky but his voice remained steady when he said "I'm not in the mood for visitors."

Hanging the lantern on a hook on the wall, Elsa lowered her hood and said "That's too bad. Unfortunately for you, as Queen, I have the right to ignore that wish."

Hans raised his head and realized for the first time who was standing in his cell. He started to stand up to bow but sat back down when Elsa put her hand up and shook her head. "Please don't." she said. "There's no need for formalities here."

Hans nodded. "To what do I owe the pleasure? I'd offer you a seat, but as you can see…" he trailed off, gesturing to the empty cell, excluding the cot that Hans was sitting on.

"There's no need," Elsa said, "I won't be long. I just wanted to speak with you for a moment."

"What about?" Hans asked.

"Why did you plead guilty?"

He rolled his eyes. "You know why."

"If you're referring to the fact that you did it for moral reasons because you feel horrible for your actions and know what you did was wrong, that's great; but that's not what I was referring to."

"What were you referring to then?"

"I was referring to the fact that you gave up the opportunity for a trial just to get the death sentence! The trial could've been your saving grace!"

"Well you didn't expect me to walk into the courtroom and say not guilty when I knew that there was too much evidence against me! I would've gotten the death sentence anyway!"

"Maybe not! There was still evidence that could've given you a less severe sentence!"

Hans scoffed. "Yeah, right."

"Ugh!" Elsa exclaimed. "Why are you being so difficult about this?! Don't you care about the fact that you're going to die?!"

"Why should I?" he said, standing up and looking out the window. "Even if my life was spared I would still be seen as a monster. It doesn't matter what changed inside me, I would still be alone. And in all honesty, I'd rather be dead than alone. So what does it matter? I won't be missed and the world will be better without me, anyway. My brothers would finally be happy without the screw up youngest brother around, my parents would get over it, and the rest of the world would forget about me. So who cares?"

"Don't say that." Elsa said, quietly. "Plenty of people would care."

"LIES!" he yelled, losing the cool facade he had kept for so long. "You and I both know that's not true. No one would care. I dare you to name one person who would care if I died!"

"I would!" Elsa yelled before covering her mouth with her hands, realizing what she said.

Hans stared at her opened-mouthed and wide eyed. "W-what?" he said in disbelief.

Before Elsa could respond, there was a knock at the door. "Your Majesty," one of the guards said, "is everything alright?" Elsa took a deep breath before saying "Y-yes, everything is fine. Thank you."

Elsa continued to take some deep breaths in order to calm herself down. It was only when she put her hands over her mouth that she realized she was shaking. _Breathe, Elsa. You're okay. _she told herself. Finally, she stopped shaking and was able to look Hans in the eye again. He was sitting on the cot again, looking at the floor like he'd just seen a ghost.

"Hans?" Elsa said, worrying he went into shock or something.

"What do you mean?" he whispered.

"What?" she asked.

"What do you mean you would care? _Why_ would you care?" he said, looking up at her with desperate and confused eyes.

And for the first time, Elsa understood. One look into those piercing green eyes of his and everything made sense. She saw the sad, hurt, and neglected child that still hid under Hans' falsely over-confident exterior. She saw the desperation to be loved and wanted and fear of being alone. She saw how years of torment from his twelve older brothers scarred him into thinking he wasn't good enough and how the lack of affection from his parents made him think that he couldn't be loved. Hans was twenty-four years old and he still felt that wasn't good enough or could never be loved. He felt that the only way to gain love was to gain power because that's how he was raised. He didn't understand what it felt to be loved or wanted or understood. And Elsa finally did. She finally realized that his mother was right all along: he _was _a good person, he just made bad decisions sometimes. It was then that she decided she'd show him what it felt like to be loved and wanted. She loved this man and she wouldn't allow him to go the rest of his life thinking that he wasn't appreciated in some way shape or form. His actions here in Arendelle would not be for nothing. If she played her cards right, she'd be able to save his life and bring a positive light back into it. But first she needed to know that he trusted her.

Elsa sighed and looked out the small barred window, twisting her necklace between her fingers. "I would care, Hans, because you've come too far to give up now. When I told your mother I'd let you stay and redeem yourself, I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't give up on you. I had a gut feeling that there was good in you and I was right. You still have a long way to go but you've made some pretty incredible strides since you've come back, Hans. And, frankly, I'm too determined to let you fall that easily." She paused and looked at him. "We have more in common than you think." Hans wrinkled his eyebrows in confusion.

Elsa smirked. "We were separated for most (if not all) of our childhood - you by force, me by choice. We both have trust issues, we both want to be loved and accepted." Hans dropped his head and looked at the floor. Elsa crouched in front of him and lifted his chin with her fingers (without flinching) so he was eye level with her. "And we both put up walls in order to protect ourselves even if it hurts those around us. Neither of us are good with emotions so we bury them behind a protective wall that we use as a defense mechanism. I didn't realize until last year how dangerous that is. The longer we bury our emotions the bigger chance there is of an explosion that could not only hurt yourself but those you love most. Trust me, I know this from experience. You're only hurting yourself by keeping your guard up. Let me help you drop that guard and show you what great lengths you can go to."

Hans sniffed. He didn't realize he was crying until Elsa wiped a few tears off his cheeks. "What good will dropping my guard do if I'm just going to die?"

"Well, mainly, it would allow you to trust me." she said.

"What do you mean?"

Elsa smiled. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes." he breathed.

"Do you trust me completely? As in are you willing to do whatever I tell you to do if I know that it's in your best interest? And if I know that it will save your life?"

Hans' breathing was shaky again. Elsa's face was very close to his now and there was a determination in her eyes - the same determination he saw when she was on the battlefield. Knowing that she was up to something, his gut told him to beware what she was thinking but against his better judgement, he said "Yes."

"Good," she said, "then I need you to trust me when I say that I will get you out of here. I will not let you die here like this, in chains. You will die a free man, whether it's in Arendelle, the Southern Isles, or some faraway kingdom. But no matter what, you walk out of here alive."

Squeezing his hands, Elsa stood up and put her hood back on before grabbing the lantern. Hans (who was in shock at Elsa's declaration) regained his composure before Elsa walked out.

"Elsa?"

She turned and looked at him. "Why do you want to save me?"

Elsa pursed her lips looking for the right words. Eventually, she walked back towards him and bent down to meet his face. Then she let her actions speak for her: not bothering to tense up anymore, she put both her hands on either sides of Hans' face and let her lips meet his. It wasn't as long as their first kiss but it was just as passionate. Hans wrapped his hands around Elsa's as they pulled out the kiss. "Does that explain everything?" Elsa asked, smiling. Hans smiled and nodded. Elsa began to walk out of the cell, holding onto Hans' hand until he was out of reach and then let go. Then she left. Hans fell back onto the lumpy cot smiling at the ceiling. He fell asleep still smiling replaying his conversation with Elsa in his mind but mostly he kept thinking about their kiss and that he knew what she felt for him now, even if she hadn't said it.


	16. Chapter 15

_**AN: Holy crap on a cracker, Batman! It has been a whirlwind of a week and it's only Wednesday! Yeesh! Anyway, sorry in advance for the lack of quick updates. I've been crazy busy but I'm working on updating the chapters as quick as I can. Thank you guys so much for your patience with this story. Ya'll are awesome. Kind of a long chapter here for you guys so I hope that you enjoy it. Thanks again!**_

_**Tallyho!**_

**Chapter 15:**

"Your Honor, if you would just please hear me out." Elsa pleaded.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty but I can't help but think that your idea is a bad one!"

"I understand that, but _please_, trust me on this. I know that good can come out of this!"

Elsa was in the middle of meeting with Judge Harmon who had moderated Hans' trial. Elsa had just asked the judge to revoke Hans' sentence and so far, it was not working in the queen's favor. But she was on a mission and she wouldn't back down until she got what she wanted.

Judge Harmon sighed. "How exactly can good come out of my revoking the death sentence to a man who committed high treason?"

"It would allow room for a different and less severe sentence that teaches him a lesson."

The judge intertwined his fingers. "I'm listening."

"I did some digging on the Westergards of the Southern Isles. Each brother was assigned a different position or task in the kingdom (excluding the eldest brother, Jonathan who is preparing to be king). What I found out was that Hans was an admiral in the Southern Isles navy. According to what I've heard and found, Hans was happiest when he was working with the navy. My thinking is, if you revoke the death sentence, we put him back in the navy, the _Arendellian_ navy. We position him as a Midshipman and make him work his way back up to his original rank. We put him back where he was happiest and he learns what it's like to be a part of a team again. Plus, you heard what he did on the battlefield! We need someone with his experience in our navy. Imagine what he'd be able to share and learn with us! Please, I know he can do it."

"How do you know that this man can be trusted?" Judge Harmon asked skeptically.

"We've saved each other's lives." Elsa said simply. "You can't not trust someone after that."

"And how do you know that Fleet Admiral Jonas would be alright with this arrangement that you've proposed?"

"I may or may not have already spoken to him about it…" Elsa trailed off.

Judge Harmon sighed in exasperation. "You've made your mind up, then?"

"Yes, Your Honor." Elsa said crossing her fingers.

"Before I give you my decision, answer me this: why do want to save this young man's life so badly?"

Elsa thought before responding. "I spent thirteen years of my life isolating myself from people and my sister in particular out of fear of my powers. When they were exposed last year, I felt such relief that I didn't have to hide anymore; I finally felt free. But I also felt alone. My sister did everything she could to get me to open up to her and it wasn't until I thought I lost her forever that I was willing to drop my guard and let her in.

"Hans and I are not that different. We both know what it feels like to be alone and have no one understand you. But it's only after you let someone in that you understand that although they may not completely comprehend what you're going through, they're willing to help you and be by your side no matter what anyway. I didn't realize how good that felt until very recently. Being alone and desperate for acceptance can drive people to do things they normally wouldn't do. It almost destroyed me. I want to help Hans in any way that I can before it destroys him. That's why I want to save him, Your Honor."

Judge Harmon looked at Elsa with sympathy and shook his head. "You are so much like your father, Your Majesty." Elsa smiled at this comment. "He was just like you, always wanting to do the right thing and save every soul you could believing that they were capable of being good."

He smiled before looking down at the paper in front of him. "I must be out of my mind." he muttered as he signed the bottom of the page. "Hans Westergard will have one year of service in the Arendellian navy as well as a job doing some form of hard labor for six months; I'll let you decide that. After his year is up, he will come back for another trial that will decide whether or not he will be pardoned." he said as he gave the paper to Elsa.

The queen smiled in delight and hugged Judge Harmon in thanks. As Elsa happily walked out of his office, verdict in hand, Judge Harmon shook his head and thought _Heaven help that sweet girl and poor boy._

As soon as Elsa was given the new verdict, courtesy of Judge Harmon, she requested an audience with the King and Queen of the Southern Isles as well as the 12 princes (who had arrived a few days ago after hearing Hans' original sentence) as well as Hans who was in chains and escorted by the two guards who had been in front of his cell. Elsa was sitting in her throne looking as regal as ever with Anna on her right. Kristoff was standing off to the side with Elsa's advisor Erik.

As her audience was settled, Elsa began. "Your Majesties and Highness' of the Southern Isles. I'm so glad that you could all join me this afternoon." They all bowed and curtsied before she continued. "As you know, a few days ago, the youngest Southern Isles prince, Hans Westergard, was given the death sentence on the charges of attempted murders of myself and my sister and of high treason. Well, I've brought you here today to tell you that his sentence has been changed." Hans' brothers looked among themselves confused while his parents locked eyed contact with Elsa waiting to hear what his new charge was. Hans' heart was beginning to beat fast. _This is it_, he thought.

Elsa unrolled the paper that had the new verdict on it. "Hans' new sentence is one year of service in the Arendellian navy as well as six months of hard labor. After his year is up, he will return to court for a final trial that will decide whether or not he will be pardoned."

King Magnus and Queen Lila gaped at Elsa in surprise before looking at each other and hugging in relief. Hans made a strangled sound that was something between a cough and cry of relief. Elsa looked at him and smiled and he couldn't help but tear up slightly. _She did it!_ he thought. _She actually did it!_ The only people who seemed less than thrilled at Hans' new sentence were his brothers. Most of them looked shocked but one brother in particular looked disgusted. Anna noticed his reaction.

"You there!" Anna called, bringing the attention to the brother. "Come here."

He looked among his brothers before walking before the queen and princess. He was tall and lanky with dark brown hair that was pulled back into a low ponytail. He had small sideburns and a short beard. He had piercing blue eyes that reminded Elsa of her own and walked - no, strided - in a way that suggested he was used to being addressed with respect. He bowed a short and stiff bow to the queen and princess. The sisters immediately disliked him.

"What's your name?" Anna asked.

"Prince Rolf, Your Highness. 8th in line to the throne of the Southern Isles."

Elsa and Anna looked at each other before looking back at Rolf. "Why do you look angry and disgusted about your brother's new sentence, Rolf?" Anna asked. "Aren't you glad that he'll live?"

Rolf seemed irritated that he was put on the spot in front of his entire family. Elsa raised her eyebrows expectantly. Rolf huffed before answering. "Because he's a disgrace to the Westergard family."

Hans felt a stabbing pain in his heart. He felt foolish for thinking that his brothers would be excited about his changed sentence. They hated him as much now as they did back home. He could feel tears prickling his eyes but he held them back and held his head high and looked at his brother sternly. If he couldn't have his brothers' acceptance, he could at least have a small victory in showing them that what they felt wouldn't hurt him (even though it was killing him inside).

"Rolf!" Queen Lila scolded.

"Oh, hush it, mother! You know it's true!" Rolf responded.

Before either could continue, Elsa held up a hand signaling both to be silent. She took a quick glance at Hans and noticed that despite his stern demeanor, his eyes held pain and hurt. Looking back to Rolf, she asked "Why would you something like that about your own brother?"

"He-"

"Don't tell me. Tell him yourself." Elsa said nodding to Hans.

Rolf glared at his youngest brother with absolute hatred before explaining himself. "You are a disgrace to the Westergard family because ever since you were born you've created nothing but trouble. I wasn't joking when I said that as the thirteenth born bad luck would follow you. And then you come to Arendelle to try and show the rest of us up by attempting to woo the queen and princess! Look how well that worked out! A disgraced prince who stands now before us in chains" (Hans' shackles had yet to be taken off). "I know I speak for the rest of us when I say that you are not a Westergard and you are not our brother. You never have been and you never will be."

There was silence in the room as Rolf finished his speech. There were tears rolling down Queen Lila's cheeks while King Magnus and the eleven other princes looked at Rolf shocked and embarrassed. Anna was fuming and Kristoff kept opening and closing his hands into fists. Hans was staring down his brother, his face battling between anger and sadness while his eyes showed more pain and hurt than he had ever felt in his entire life. The only person in the room who seemed to be keeping her cool was the Snow Queen herself. She sat in her throne tapping her fingers along the arm while looking between her sister, Hans, and Rolf wondering who would crack first. Not to her surprise, Hans spoke first.

"Permission to speak, Your Grace?" he asked Elsa.

"Permission granted." she nodded.

Looking at his brother with sad eyes, he said "Rolf, out of the twelve of you, I know that you've always hated me the most. Why any of you never liked me, I don't know and at this point, I no longer care. I've made peace with my past and I think it's time that we make peace as well. I'm not saying that we need to try to be friends because I don't think that will ever happen; we have too much bad blood between all of us. What I am saying is that I would like to be able to be civil to each other. I don't think that's too much to ask.

"Mother, Father, I know you did the best you that could but with twelve other sons and a kingdom to run how could you give much affection and attention to the youngest of the boys. I get it, you were busy. I know that you love me, even if you haven't said it out loud. Love doesn't need to be said, it can be expressed with actions" (he threw a quick glance to Elsa, remembering the kiss back in his cell). "I wouldn't be standing here if you didn't love me. I'm not angry with you. If anything, I forgive you - all of you. And I thank you for the lessons that you taught me. So what do you say? Think we can call a truce to this childish game of hating each other and try to be the civilized adults that we are?" he asked putting his hand (well, hands since they were still chained together) out to shake his brother's hand.

Rolf scoffed and stuck his nose up at the gesture but Hans wouldn't back down. Instead he directed his gaze to his eldest brother Jonathan who stepped away from his siblings and stood in front of his youngest brother. Jonathan was among the tallest of the thirteen brothers and looked to be among the strongest. He had hair similar to Hans' but it was shorter. He was one of the few Westergard brothers who didn't have facial hair but still looked intimidating without it. He had green eyes but they weren't as vivid as his mother's or youngest brother's. Hans kept his gaze steady as Jonathan took his hand and shook it firmly. The future king smiled at Hans. "You've grown so much." he said. "And just in the course of a few months. I hope this next year for you is a fulfilling one. And I hope," he clasped his other hand over Hans', "that it's not too late to repair a few broken bridges between us. I realize now that we were wrong to treat you as horribly as we did. I'm sorry. Think that we can start over; as friends?"

Hans felt like his heart would burst. "Jonathan, I can't tell you how long I've waited for those words to come out of your mouth. And now that they just did I can't help but feel I'm dreaming. Will you do me a favor and pinch me? Just so I know this isn't my imagination?"

Jonathan chuckled at Hans outstretched arm and appeased his youngest brother by pinching him. Hans shook his head and smiled. Jonathan slapped him on the back and told the guards standing next to him "Oh take off these stupid shackles so I can properly hug my brother!"

The guards looked to Elsa for the 'okay' before unlocking the shackles. Hans began to rub his wrists before he was picked up and bear hugged by Jonathan who released a booming laugh that echoed throughout the room. Hans smiled meekly at his eldest sibling, not used to the physical contact from his brother. Jonathan led Hans over to his other brothers who smiled (some forced, some genuine) and ranged from shaking his hand to patting him on the back to even hugging him.

Rolf was still seething but shook Hans' hand nonetheless. If Hans had noticed Rolf's attitude, he didn't let it show. He was just happy that his brothers were being civil to him and even accepting him. He didn't care how long it lasted. He just wanted to remember this moment right now more than anything. When he reached his parents, his mother threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly while trying not to cry. His father put his arms around both of them and held them while mouthing "Thank you" to Elsa who had stood up and was sneaking out of the room with her sister, Kristoff, Erik and the guards. She nodded to King Magnus before closing the door to allow the Westergard family a few minutes of reconciliation.

As Erik and the guards wandered off to their respective posts, Elsa linked her arm with her sister who had intertwined her fingers with Kristoff's as they went to take a walk through the town before retiring for the evening.

"So do you think Hans and his brothers will actually be able to get along?" Anna asked her sister.

"I don't think they'll have the kind of relationship that we have, but I think that, like Hans, they're sick of fighting and ready to develop a real relationship with their brother. Even if for some of them the farthest that relationship gets is just being civil to each other. I'm pretty sure that's all he wants anyway."

"What do you think about Rolf? Think he'll ever come around?" Kristoff asked, clearly still irritated at what the prince had said.

Elsa pursed her lips. "Probably not. But you can't have everything."

Anna shrugged. "You think Hans is going to do okay in the navy?"

Elsa smiled. "I think he's going to feel right at home."


	17. Chapter 16

_**AN: Holy ravioli, this week has been insane. Sorry I haven't updated earlier everyone. I'm kind of going through some personal stuff right now and because of that I just haven't been into updating my story. Hopefully, I'll get back into it soon but I just want to let you guys know that I may take a break for a while. I really appreciate all the wonderful reviews that you all have written. It makes me so happy that you guys are enjoying the story so thank you bunches! You all are wonderful! Enjoy the chapter!**_

_**Tallyho!**_

**One Year Later**

**Chapter 16:**

Hans had never felt more accepted. Joining the Arendellian navy was one of the best things he had ever done and couldn't be more grateful to Elsa for everything that she's done for him. Not only had she saved his life and given him a job (excluding the hard labor), she had also been able to find a nice little cabin for him to live in. It was made out of stone and had a pitched roof made of brick. Inside, there was a good sized fireplace for the winter months along with a small kitchen and a small bedroom complete with it's own bathroom! Although the cabin was small in size, it was full of charm. Hans loved his new home; after sharing everything with twelve older brothers for most of his life, it was nice to finally have something he could call his own.

He got along extremely well with his comrades and graduated at the top of his class from the naval academy. He was very quickly proving himself to his commanding officers and was beginning to work his way up the ranks; he just recently he had been promoted to Lieutenant. His six months of hard labor had consisted of odd jobs all around the kingdom: from working with the ice harvesters again to helping with the construction around town which included a brand new library for the citizens to have free access to. Surprisingly, he had been grateful for the extra work because it made him stronger which came in handy when training with the navy. When his six months were over, he was allowed to focus solely on his duties with the navy which was where he felt happiest and most useful.

As his year of working with the navy came to a close, Hans' new and (hopefully) final trial was coming up. He was (almost) sure that he would be pardoned but he couldn't help but be nervous for it. The night before his trial, Hans was beginning to feel anxious so he tried to distract himself. He originally started the evening off reading a book by the fire in his cabin but couldn't quite quiet his mind so he decided to take a walk through the town instead. There were people wandering around the kingdom but the streets weren't as crowded as they were during the day. Hans ended up by the docks and admired how calm the water seemed compared to a year ago during the war. Noticing a colorful reflection in the water, Hans looked up into the sky and saw the most beautiful colors he had ever seen. Despite being in Arendelle for quite some time, he had never truly appreciated how the sky gave off different colors. He hadn't seen nature create anything so beautiful than those colors that he saw in the sky.

"Incredible, isn't it?" he heard a voice ask.

He turned to find Elsa standing behind him smiling. If it wasn't for her startling blue eyes, he wouldn't have recognized her. Her hair was pulled away from her face in a high bun while her face had minimal make-up on. She was wearing a simple gray dress with a dark blue cape with a hood that laid over her head. Hans had never seen her dressed so simply but couldn't help but think that it worked for her. Then again, he was pretty sure she'd be able to wear nothing but a barrel and still look beautiful.

Over the past year, Elsa and Hans had begun to develop a close friendship. There had been no more kisses between the two and neither had spoken about it. Hans was sure that Elsa felt the same way about him that he did about her but never touched on the subject for two reasons: 1) he was scared talking about it would make her angry and 2) he still had a slight doubt in his mind that she cared for him as more than a friend. So he kept his mouth shut and just enjoyed that he was friends with Elsa and Anna (although Anna was still weary of him at times). His and Elsa's friendship had grown quite rapidly over the year. She no longer tensed up when they touched and anytime he was around her, he knew that his smile and laugh were genuine. He knew of her nightmares of the final day in battle with the Duke of Weselton had died (something she hadn't even told Anna) and she knew of his distrust with himself and his fear that one day he would wake up and everything that happened in the past year was just a dream. To everyone's (including their own) surprise, they found it extremely easy to trust each other. To them, it just felt natural.

He smiled at her as she stood next to him. "Yeah, it's amazing. It's not like this back in my country. We just have the stars. But _this_," he gestured to the sky, "this is something else. I've never seen anything like it. It's as if the sky is _alive_, almost."

There was a pause before Elsa spoke. "No." she said, looking up at the sky with a small smile. "It's awake. The sky's awake."

Hans smiled at her. "Yeah, it is."

They stood at the docks looking at the colors for a while before Hans spoke again.

"So what are you doing out here this late, Your Majesty?"

"I wanted to go for a walk so I did just that. And I told you to call me Elsa." she smiled at him.

He smiled in return. "Sorry, habit. So where's your sister and Kristoff?"

"Off in the mountains to visit Kristoff's 'family' before the wedding."

"Ah, yes. That's soon isn't it?"

"Saturday." Elsa confirmed.

"Wow, that's extremely soon."

"Yeah…" Elsa paused before continuing. "So you're trial's tomorrow…"

Hans tensed up. "Yeah…"

"How do you feel?"

"Fine." he lied.

Elsa raised an eyebrow at him before looking back out onto the water and whispered "Liar."

Hans huffed and sat down in defeat with his legs hanging over the edge of the dock. Elsa sat next to him. There was silence between them before Hans spoke again.

"In all honesty," he began, "I'm terrified."

"Why? You have no reason to be."

"I have every reason to be! It doesn't matter what good I've done over the past year, there's still a chance that the jury and the judge will be biased against me and sentence me to my death! I don't want that Elsa. I don't want to have come all this way for nothing." He was shaking now. Elsa put her arm around his shoulders and pulled him into her so that he was leaning on her shoulder. She put her other arm around him so she was hugging him while rubbing his arm to soothe him. It worked; he was starting to calm down.

"The judge and jury will be unbiased, Hans." she started. "They have to be. It's been two years since everything happened and now there's stronger evidence for you. Plus, you'll also have some people speak on your behalf in your defense. You'll be fine. I promise."

As Hans stayed comforted in her arms, Elsa only wished she felt as hopeful and positive for Hans' trial as her words were.

The courtroom was less filled this time than Hans' first trial. His parents were back as well as three of his brothers, including Jonathan. Elsa was sitting next to Anna and was holding her hand in order to control her nervousness. Hans walked into the courtroom and smiled hopefully at Elsa. She returned the gesture as Judge Harmon walked in. As he sat down, the trial began.

"Hans Westergard of the Southern Isles, you are here today to decide whether or not you will be pardoned for your crimes of high treason and attempted double murder two years ago. Is this correct?" Judge Harmon asked.

"Yes, Your Honor." Hans replied.

"Great, let's get started. Could Fleet Admiral Jonas come to the stand please?"

A tall man with short dirty blond hair stood up and walked to the stand. He looked to be in his mid-forties and was wearing his naval uniform. He had been a part of the Arendellian navy since he was nineteen years old and was one of the most respected and trusted men among the military and in Arendelle. After sitting down, Judge Harmon began to ask Fleet Admiral Jonas questions.

"Fleet Admiral, do you know the man who is sitting in front of you today?"

"Yes, Your Honor. That is Lieutenant Westergard."

"Would you say, Fleet Admiral, that Lieutenant Westergard has proved himself over the past year to be a trustworthy and respectable person?"

"Absolutely, Your Honor. This man is a natural born leader; I've never seen someone learn so quickly. He gets along extremely well with the other men and they treat each other as equals, no matter what their rank. This man is an excellent soldier and I can personally say that I trust this man with my life. After his actions in the war, I would be crazy not to. A man who risks his life in battle to save those whom he once tried to harm is a changed and respectable man in my eyes, Your Honor."

Judge Harmon nodded. "Thank you, Fleet Admiral." The trial continued like that for a while. Some of Hans' comrades from the navy spoke on his behalf as well as a few of the men he fought with during the war and some of the ice harvesters. As the trial neared its end, Judge Harmon called up one last unexpected witness.

"Princess Anna of Arendelle, will you please come to the stand?"

Both Elsa and Hans' heads shot up as Anna stood up and sat down at the stand. They looked at each other confused before looking back at Anna who was speaking with Judge Harmon. _Anna, what are you doing?!_ Elsa thought.

"Your Highness, you know who this man is." It wasn't a question.

"Yes, Your Honor."

"Your Highness, you have heard multiple witnesses speak on Hans Westergard's behalf for the actions committed within the last year, today. Despite his actions committed two years ago during The Great Freeze, he seems to have made an impression on the people of Arendelle and, in their eyes, redeemed himself. What do you have to say?"

Elsa and Hans were on pins and needles; anything that Anna said could change the course of the trial completely. Both were hoping and praying that whatever Anna said would benefit Hans. There was a pause before Anna spoke.

"I agree wholeheartedly, Your Honor." she said.

"And why is that, Your Highness?" Judge Harmon asked.

"Despite Hans' actions two years ago, I have witnessed, first hand, the changes in this man. This man risked his life to save my sister and our people; the Hans I knew the year prior would never have done anything like that. This is a man with a good heart; it's been beaten, neglected, and abused, but it's a good heart nonetheless. I know from experience, Your Honor, that people make bad choices when they're mad, scared, or stressed. That doesn't mean that these choices are a descriptor of who these people are. We all make mistakes, some bigger than others. But, in the end, the fact that we make mistakes just proves that we're all human and none of us are perfect. If there's anything I want anyone to take away from this whole ordeal is that: no one is perfect. And that no matter how big a mistake that someone makes is, everyone deserves a second chance."

Hans' breathing was shaky as Anna finished. She gave him a small smile as she stepped down from the stand and sat down next to her sister again. He couldn't believe what she had done. He wanted to fall to the floor and cry right there but kept his composure considering his final verdict had yet to be given. He wouldn't have to wait much longer though. The jury had made their decision.

"Counsel, have you made a decision?" Judge Harmon asked.

"We have, Your Honor."

The room was dead silent. Everyone was holding their breath and Elsa was trying not to cut off Anna's circulation in her hand from squeezing too hard. The courtroom waited as the final verdict was announced.

"The jury has decided that Hans Westergard of the Southern Isles should be pardoned of the charges against him."

Judge Harmon nodded and banged his gavel. "Hans Westergard, you are hereby pardoned of all charges pressed against you. You will also regain your title as prince. Court dismissed."

_**P.S. Huge shoutout to SimplifiedWords on Tumblr for letting me incorporate one of her comic's into the story. You're awesome! If ya'll have a Tumblr, I highly recommend checking out her blog, she's got the best stuff!**_

_**Stay Golden!**_


	18. Chapter 17

_**AN:**_ _**Yay, I'm getting back into writing my story! I can't thank you guys enough for your patience, ya'll are awesome. So kind of a short chapter here, just a warning. Also, another warning, from here on out it's pretty much fluff. I tried to add some more drama but I ended up hating it so fluff it is! I hope you guys are okay with that. Also also, I am so sorry! I'm writing the story on Google Docs and I'll put * for breaks between paragraphs and I only noticed last time I logged in that Fanfiction has been deleting them as soon as the chapter is updated. Ugh, so frustrating. So if you're reading a chapter and notice that one paragraph doesn't match the one before it, there was supposed to be a break there that got taken out. I'll go back in and fix it after the story's done. Wow, this is longer than I wanted it to be. Thank you guys for the wonderful reviews, you guys are the best. Hope you enjoy the chapter!**_

_**Tallyho!**_

**Chapter 17:**

Hans felt his knees weaken and grabbed the table for support. He couldn't believe it: he'd been pardoned! He was cleared of his charges! And he was a prince again; that was the last thing he expected to happen. A guard came over and unlocked the shackles that were around his wrists for the last time. He looked over to Elsa who looked just as ecstatic as he was. He smiled at her and then at Anna and mouthed "Thank you." She smiled and nodded. He grinned at his parents and brothers before leaving the courtroom. Elsa's advisor, Erik, was waiting for Hans outside to escort him back to the castle. The entire walk back, Hans couldn't keep the smile off his face.

When he reached the castle, he was greeted by his parents and brothers. His mother immediately pulled him into a bone crushing hug. When she finally released him, he got another hug from his father and Jonathan and a handshake and pat on the back from his other two brothers. After speaking with his family for a moment, something moving caught his eye. He looked and saw Anna and Elsa walking towards them but stopping a few feet away. He closed the distance by walking to them.

The sisters smiled as their friend approached them. "Prince Hans." Anna said, as she and Elsa curtsied.

"Your Majesties." Hans replied, bowing. "I can't tell you both how much I appreciate everything that you've done for me. Elsa, you have helped me in so many ways to become a better person, and Anna, what you said back there in the courtroom - I - Thank you. Both of you."

"It was our pleasure." Anna said, sticking out a hand. Hans shook her hand and smiled before looking at Elsa who had remained silent since the end of the trial. He put a hand out to her for her to shake but she ignored it and hugged him instead. He buried his face into her shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her waist. Her arms tightened around his shoulders and in one move Hans picked her up and gave her a bear hug kind of squeeze that caused her to squeal with laughter. Hans chuckled as he put her back down. Both pulled back and smiled at each other without letting go.

Anna cleared her throat. "Still here, guys."

Elsa and Hans looked at the princess. Elsa chuckled. "Says the girl getting married in two days!"

Anna shrugged. "Fair enough."

Elsa pulled away from Hans to stand with her sister as his family approached them.

"Queen Elsa," Queen Lila said taking her hand, "I just wanted to say thank you for everything that you've done."

"It was my pleasure." Elsa said smiling.

While Elsa was speaking with Hans' mother, Anna was speaking with his father and brothers as he listened in. "So you're leaving tomorrow?" Anna asked King Magnus.

"Yes," he replied, "now that the trial is over and Hans is cleared, there isn't any reason for us to overstay our welcome. You and your sister have been very hospitable to us but I think it's time for us to leave."

Anna bit her lip and looked to her sister who glanced at her out of the corner of her eye before looking back at Queen Lila. Looking to King Magnus again, Anna threw out an offer. "Why don't you stay?" she said. "At least until Sunday when the wedding is over and done with. This is a time for celebration and I think we could all use a night where we just enjoy ourselves. Plus, it would be an honor to have you there. What do you say?"

Elsa and Queen Lila had stopped talking and were watching the interaction between Anna and King Magnus now. He seemed hesitant about staying in Arendelle for a few more days at first but after looking at his wife and sons (glancing at Hans for a second longer than the others) before looking back to the sisters and smiling. "We would love to stay for your wedding, Princess Anna."

Anna smiled. "Great!"

From there, they separated: Hans' family went back into the castle to their respective rooms that they had been staying in in the days before Hans' trial, Anna went to find Olaf (Kristoff was up in the mountains finishing up some last minute work before the wedding), and Elsa and Hans went for a walk through the town. Although Elsa thought Anna was just being friendly, Hans knew exactly what Anna was up to when she asked his family to stay for the wedding. She was buying him time to confess his feelings for Elsa. Now that he was free, he knew that he could reveal them to her proudly but he was still scared of her reaction. Fortunately, he had until Sunday to find the right words to express his feelings. He just hoped he could gather enough courage and find the right words in that time.


	19. Chapter 18

_**AN: Sweet baby Jesus! School started again this week (yuck)! So please bear with me as I learn to balance school and this story again (I started this over spring break last sememster so I know I can do it). Any-who, short chapter alert but it's the wedding chapter so that's exciting! I hope you guys enjoy it!**_

_**Tallyho!**_

**Chapter 18:**

It was the day of the wedding. Elsa woke up extra early to ensure that everything was set up correctly. When she finished, she went to see if her sister was awake; sure enough, when she knocked on the door, Anna was awake… and freaking out.

"Elsa, I don't think I can do this!" Anna said, pacing.

"What? What are you talking about? Of course, you can!" Elsa said trying to calm down her sister.

"What if I can't? What if I forget to do something? What if I fall on my face walking down the aisle? What if I say the wrong vow? What if I can't say anything?!" By now, she was practically digging a hole into the floor. Elsa grabbed her sister's shoulders to get her attention.

"Anna, look at me." The princess complied.

"I have one word of advice for you: breathe. You'll be fine. I'll be with you the entire time. You're not going to mess up; you're going to be just fine. I promise."

Anna tried to look down but Elsa put her hand under her chin to keep their eyes level. "I have one question for you: do you love Kristoff?"

Anna scoffed. "Of course, I love Kristoff! I love him more than anything in the world!... well, next to you, of course."

Elsa smiled and moved her hands to her sister's arms. "Then that's all that matters. No matter what happens today, you just need to remember that this is the day that you marry the love of your life and he's just as nervous as you are. But he loves you for you so even if you trip, which you won't, I can promise you he won't love you any less."

The princess sighed. "Thanks Elsa, I needed that," she said, smiling.

Elsa smiled at her baby sister and hugged her. "Anytime," she said, pulling back. "Let me grab my dress and then I'll come back here and help you get ready. Sound good?"

Anna nodded. "Great, I'll be right back!" Elsa said, walking out the door.

.

.

.

In another room in the castle, a similar conversation was taking place.

"I can't do this! I'm not made to do this! This is for people who have experience with other people! The most experience I have is the ice harvesters and that sure as hell won't help me!"

"Kristoff, calm down!" Hans said, trying to get the future prince to sit down. "You're overthinking this. You're going to be fine. All you have to do is repeat after Elsa, put the ring on Anna's finger, and kiss her (which you already know how to do might I add)."

Hans was helping Kristoff calm down because he was the only person (other than Anna and Elsa) that he could trust with something this big (Sven and Olaf didn't count considering that neither were human). Working together on the North Mountain allowed Hans and Kristoff to develop somewhat of a friendship. Although they were still learning to trust each other, they couldn't help but enjoy each other's company and friendship. And if they were being honest, they both needed a guy (human) friend in order to balance out the girls.

Kristoff blushed his comment and Hans sighed. "Kristoff, Anna loves you and in the end that's all that really matters. She's probably just as nervous as you are but I promise you, as soon as the two of you see each other, that's all you'll see. If you just focus on her, nothing else will matter and you'll be able to get through the ceremony easily."

Kristoff seemed to relax a little bit when Hans finished. "Then you'll just have to dance at the reception," Hans said, trying to hide his smile at Kristoff's scared reaction.

Hans chuckled and patted his shoulder. "You'll be fine," he said, walking towards the door. "Just remember to breathe."

Hans chuckled as he heard Kristoff let out the breath he didn't realize he had been holding. As Hans closed the bedroom door, he saw a familiar pair of blue eyes glancing in his direction. He walked towards her as she smiled and walked straight into his outstretched arms. Burying his face into her hair, he couldn't help but notice how she smelled like chocolate. He still hadn't told her how he felt about her and was starting to worry as his time was quickly running out. He stifled a sigh as he lightly kissed the top of her head. She sighed against his chest. He pulled back and looked at her.

"Rough morning?" he asked.

"You have no idea," Elsa said, chuckling. "Making sure everything was set was the easy part. Anna, on the other hand, is a completely different story."

Hans chuckled. "Is she nervous?"

"If by nervous, you mean a nervous wreck, then yes!" she said.

"Well, if it makes you feel better, Kristoff's not much better."

"Oh goodness," Elsa said, running her fingers through her hair. "How bad is he?"

"He was pretty bad but I think I calmed him down a little bit. At least until I reminded him that he had to dance at the reception."

Elsa rolled her eyes and picked her dress up a bit in her hands. "You would remind him of that."

Hans just shrugged. Suddenly, there was a call from down the hall. "Elsa! I need help please!" Anna yelled.

"Coming!" Elsa responded. "Duty calls," she said to Hans.

"It's fine," he said, smiling. "See you later?"

"Yeah," she said, giving him a sly smirk before taking off down the hall.

Hans couldn't help himself but watch her as she went. He whistled playfully at her when she was about halfway down the hall. Elsa turned back around and smirked; she blew him what looked like a kiss but only until it was too late did Hans realize it was a snowball. The snowball smacked him right in the face with a loud "Oof!" coming from the prince. Elsa laughed in victory before taking off down the hall again. Hans couldn't help but chuckle as he wiped the snow off his face. She certainly kept him on his toes, that was for sure; but he didn't mind. It was one of the many reasons why he loved her. His mind stayed on her and how he would tell her his true feelings as he walked back to room to get ready for the wedding.

.

.

.

Elsa stood with her sister in front of the doors that would soon open and lead them to Kristoff. Elsa's arm was linked with Anna's. "You ready?" she asked, smiling.

Anna smiled and nodded. "Yeah."

"Here we go," Elsa said in a sing-song voice.

The doors opened and the sisters began to walk down the aisle. Anna looked beautiful in her wedding dress. It was as white as snow with pale blue beading along the bodice and skirt; the dress was a sweetheart neckline with off the shoulder sleeves and a skirt that flowed out at the waist. She had gloves that went up past her elbows and was wearing a small white gold tiara with her veil tucked in her bun. Elsa was wearing her coronation gown and cape except this time there were no gloves. Her hair was in a bun similar to Anna's but Elsa had ribbon in her hair instead of a veil. She was also wearing her tiara. It would be the talk of the town for weeks about how beautiful the sisters looked at the Royal Wedding.

When the two reached the altar, Elsa joined Anna and Kristoff's hands together before walking around them to face the guests. Olaf and Sven were the best man and flower snowman and were standing off to the side smiling (or if you could call the face Sven was making smiling). Elsa winked at the two of them before addressing everyone.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" she began. "We are gathered here today to celebrate the marriage of Princess Anna to Kristoff Bjorgman." From then on, Elsa continued the ceremony and Anna and Kristoff never took their eyes off each other. When Elsa said "You may kiss the bride," Kristoff kissed Anna quicker than Elsa could step away. When they pulled away and smiled at each other, Elsa put her hands on both of their shoulders and made an announcement.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I am proud to introduce to you Prince Kristoff and Princess Anna of Arendelle!"

The crowd cheered as the new prince and princess walked back down the aisle. Elsa followed the couple and caught sight of a familiar face smiling at her from the crowd. She flashed him a quick smile before walking out of the ceremony space to hug her sister and new brother-in-law.

"So, how's it feel to be a married couple?" Elsa said, smiling.

Kristoff laughed as Anna said "Now I can eat all the chocolate I want and not worry about you judging me!"

Her husband smiled and looked at Elsa. "You could probably ask her the same question in ten years and you'd get the same answer!"

Elsa laughed and put her arm around her sister. "Fair enough. Speaking of chocolate, I hear we have a party to attend to!"

Anna wrapped one arm around her sister's waist and interlaced her fingers with her new husband as the three walked to the ballroom to have chocolate and enjoy the party.


	20. Chapter 19

_**AN: Hello lovelies! Since it's Monday and Mondays suck, I decided I would make your Monday better by updating a chapter! I hope this helps your beginning of the week blues!**_

_**Tallyho!**_

**Chapter 19:**

The reception was a blast. Everyone was in a good mood. Elsa had never seen her sister look happier and Kristoff looked to be in total bliss despite his less than average dancing skills. Olaf was dancing with some village children and Sven was off in a corner with a bag of carrots. Hans was standing in the back talking with his brothers while their parents were dancing. Elsa was glad to see him smiling and laughing, especially with his siblings. Speaking of siblings, Anna and Kristoff were walking towards where Elsa was standing in front of the thrones.

"Having fun?" Elsa asked as Anna walked passed her and flopped into a chair with Kristoff joining her in the one next to it..

"Oodles!" the princess said, out of breath. "I just need to rest a second before going back out there. We've been dancing since the party started!" Elsa smiled before looking back out to the dance floor.

"Why don't you go dance with someone, Elsa?" Anna asked.

She looked at her sister and raised an eyebrow. "You of all people know that I don't dance, Anna."

"I said the same thing about skating!"

Elsa rolled her eyes. "Come on, Elsa, please!" Anna pleaded. "You should dance at a ball at least once. Especially at your own sister's wedding. Don't you agree Hans?"

Elsa turned around to find Hans standing in front of her with a surprised look on his face. "Woah, what? How did I get pulled into this?" he asked.

"You were standing there. Therefore, you're now part of the conversation." Anna said as Kristoff attempted to stifle his laughter.

Hans and Elsa looked at each other confused. "Since when is that a rule?" Elsa asked.

"Since it's my wedding day." Anna joked. "Seriously though! Life is too short not to dance. Go; enjoy yourselves!"

Hans chuckled and held a hand out to Elsa. "What do you say, Your Majesty? Shall we appease the bride?"

Elsa dropped her queenly demeanor for a moment to stick her tongue out at her sister before sighing and taking Hans' hand. "Fine. Just remember, you asked for it. If I end up knocking someone over, I blame you, Anna."

"I'm willing to take that chance." she said laughing.

The prince led the queen to the dance floor in time for a new dance to start. However, as both began to dance, the floor quickly emptied as everyone began watching the two in awe. Hans was very agile and quick-footed which was fine for Elsa, considering she always danced a bit too quickly in her ballroom classes as a child. Elsa was a very elegant dancer and looked beautiful as she glided across the dance floor. It was clear Hans was impressed at good of a dancer she was. Together, the prince and queen were an image of elegance and grace as they danced together. Despite the floor being completely empty, neither of them noticed because their eyes were glued to each other until the end when the song was over.

As they stopped dancing, Elsa looked into the green eyes of the man she was in love with. She wanted to badly to kiss him right then and there but knew that she couldn't because they were in public. When she finally tore her eyes away from him she looked around her to find everyone looking at them. Hans' parents were watching with impressed expressions on their faces while his brothers looked shocked; Anna, on the other hand, was standing with her arms crossed and smirking at her sister while Kristoff looked at Hans, knowingly. Elsa wrinkled her nose towards her sister before addressing her unwanted audience.

"Uh… hi!" she waved, embarrassed. "Uh.. carry on! I'm just gonna go… um, this way."

She walked off in the direction of the little cove to where she ran off when she accidentally froze the fjord on her coronation night; she couldn't tell if Hans had followed her or not. She liked coming out here because it gave her a chance to breath and think and it would be a while before anyone found her out there. She looked at the sky and saw the colors floating through them. She smiled at it as she heard someone walking up behind her.

"Nice exit." Hans said chuckling.

"Shut up." Elsa said as she playfully hit him. "It's better than accidentally making it snow and freezing the fjord."

He shrugged. "I don't know. I thought the freezing the fjord thing was kind of cool actually. No pun intended."

Elsa chuckled. "Thanks. It's a gift."

He smiled and looked out onto the horizon. The two stood in silence for a while before Hans spoke again.

"You're a wonderful dancer."

Elsa smiled. "Thank you; you're not so bad yourself."

Hans pretended to be insulted. "Excuse me, madame! I happen to be the best dancer in the Southern Isles!"

She raised an eyebrow. "Okay, maybe not in the Southern Isles. But I'm definitely the best out of my brothers!" he admitted.

Elsa threw her head back and laughed the most genuine laugh he had ever heard from her. He had heard her laugh before but he had never heard anything like the heartfelt laugh that she just did. A smile began to grow on his face and he looked at her lovingly until she pulled him out of his thoughts.

"What?" Elsa asked, confused.

"Oh, um, I was just thinking that you have a beautiful laugh."

Elsa blushed. She could see that he was thinking about something and became curious. "What else are you thinking about?"

Hans looked out onto the water. "If I told you, you'd probably hate me."

"Try me," she challenged.

He looked at her and took a deep breath. _It's now or never,_ he thought. "I was thinking about our kiss. Well, kisses."

"Oh…" she said, quietly. "What about them?"

"I haven't been able to stop thinking about them since they happened. And since then, I have never felt happier."

"Hans…" Elsa began.

"Look, I don't know if you feel the same way as I do and I don't want to start a fight," he said quickly losing his confidence in himself and what he thought her feelings for him were. "I just want you to know that I care about you and even if those kisses didn't mean the same thing to you that they did for me, I'm grateful knowing that I can leave Arendelle with my mistakes forgiven and some lifelong friends."

The queen smiled but then it faded as quickly as it had come. "Hans, since you had come back and the war had started, my stress levels were out of control. And then you got injured and I felt responsible because you were supposed to be in my care and I didn't send you back into the sidelines when you followed me so that pushed my stress even higher. When you woke up, I felt like I could breath a bit easier. And to be completely honest, that first kiss wasn't planned. I'm not sure what was going through my mind at the time, but I know that that kiss allowed me to relax, even if it was just for a moment. I admit, I was scared about what I felt when I kissed you. There was so much to focus on and the last thing I needed was to have emotions get in the way. As for the second kiss in the cell, that was something completely different. I was on a mission and nothing would stop me from doing what I needed to do. That kiss was reassurance not just for you but for myself that my motives weren't completely selfish. But they were selfish despite what I tell myself. I wanted to save your life for yourself but also for me. I realized that I can't lose you. I need you. You're one of the few people who truly understand me and why I do things the way that I do. You're one of my best friends, Hans. But, frankly, right now, I don't know what I feel. I do care about you but I have a kingdom to run and I don't have time to focus on my love life right now. I'll be here for you as your friend and confidant, though. Always."

She ended her speech by kissing Hans on the cheek, resisting the urge to bring his lips towards hers. He smiled weakly as his heart slowly broke. She didn't say that she didn't love him, but she also didn't say that she did. Granted, he didn't say it either. He pushed away his sadness and thought of what good came out of the whole situation and was at least grateful that he could leave Arendelle with a best friend that he could always count on.

As for Elsa, she knew that she was in love with Hans; but she also knew that she was right when she said she couldn't focus on her love life right now. She needed to ensure that her kingdom was flourishing and that her people were happy. It killed her knowing that he was leaving the next day and that she wouldn't be able to tell him how she felt. Despite Anna always telling her that it was okay to focus on herself at times, Elsa knew that this time, she should focus on her projects within Arendelle before she could focus on herself. Sighing, she pulled back to find Hans smiling at her; she smiled back.

"We should probably head back inside before people begin to get suspicious," Hans said, reaching his arms towards her.

The queen nodded as she took his arm. The two went back into the castle to join the rest of the guests and dance the night away before life returned to normal and Hans went home with his family.


	21. Chapter 20

_**AN: Holy cow, you guys! I cannot express how happy your reviews make me! The last few reviews I've gotten have all been super sweet and wonderful and they just make me smile super big! So you guys are awesome, thank you! However, I have been getting asked by multiple people if the over. As you can tell by this next updated chapter, it's not. I still have a few more chapters to go so FEAR NOT! You have a little more Helsa to go before the story comes to a close. Also, fun fact: this chapter is one of my favorites because this chapter is what inspired this entire story! When I first thought about writing a Helsa fanfiction, this chapter (idea at the time) popped into my head and I just developed the story around it. So I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Oh, also, Happy Labor Day! Okay, I'm done.**_

_**Tallyho!**_

**Chapter 20:**

Elsa woke up the next morning with pain in her heart. Today Hans and his family went back home to the Southern Isles. She dressed in her favorite ice blue gown, put her hair in her signature braid and went downstairs to greet her fellow royals, all the while ignoring her anxiety and trying to control herself so her powers wouldn't escape. After breakfast with Hans' family, she, Anna, and Kristoff walked them to the docks where the castle staff was finishing loading the ships. As they said their goodbyes, Elsa couldn't help but notice the Queen of the Southern Isles watching her.

Elsa smiled and walked over to the queen. "Queen Lila," she said, taking her hand, "it's been such a pleasure to see you again. Especially under better circumstances."

"The feeling is mutual, Queen Elsa," Lila said, smiling while clasping Elsa's hand with her own. "I'm glad the war and Hans' trial are over."

"Me too. I can't thank you enough for the help you sent us. We will forever be grateful to the Southern Isles."

"As will I to Arendelle ," Lila said, looking towards her sons. Hans was standing with two of his brothers, laughing. "I've never seen him look so happy. You did a wonderful job helping him. He's a changed man."

"Yes, he is," Elsa said, looking at Hans lovingly. "But I'm afraid I can't take any of the credit. His changing was his own doing; I had nothing to do with it."

Lila raised an eyebrow. "If you say so."

Elsa looked at the Southern Isles queen in disbelief but didn't have time to retort because the queen had patted her hand and walked off towards her sons and told them it was time to get on the ship. Elsa shook her head and smirked. When she looked back at the ship she noticed Hans walking towards her.

"Prince Hans," she nodded.

"Queen Elsa," he bowed. "I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for giving me the second chance no one thought I deserved. And thank you for allowing me to realize what good I can do."

She smiled. "And thank you; for saving my life and the lives of my people. Arendelle will forever be grateful for your bravery. And I can assure you that will you go into the history books; but this time as a hero."

Hans smiled. "And thank you," she continued, "for proving to me that everyone truly deserves a second chance."

"And thank you, for showing me what it means to be loved," he said, as he kissed her hand.

As Hans pulled away, Elsa pulled him into a bear hug. It caught him off guard for a second, but he quickly returned the gesture. The Snow Queen smiled when she felt his arms tighten around her waist. Even if they couldn't be together, she knew that they would always remain the best of friends.

"Write to me?" she whispered in his ear.

"Every day," he replied.

She kissed him on the cheek as she pulled away. "Until next time, Your Highness."

"Until next time, Your Majesty," he said, bowing, before walking towards the ship that would take him home.

As the ships left port, Elsa was joined by her sister and Kristoff; the three waved goodbye to their allies. Anna linked her arm through Elsa's as they began to head back to the castle.

"So…?" Anna began.

"So what?" Elsa asked.

"So, I'm guessing you didn't confess your undying love for each other?"

Elsa smirked. "No, but I'm okay because no matter what, we'll still be good friends. And we finally trust each other which is better than where we stood at the beginning when he first arrived."

Anna nodded. As she was about to speak again, both girls heard Elsa's name being called. They turned around in time to see Hans dive head first into the fjord while his family yelled for him from the ship.

"Hans!" Elsa yelled, running back to the edge of the docks.

"What is he doing?!" Anna cried.

"He's… swimming!" Elsa realized. Turning around quickly, she saw her advisor, Erik standing nearby. "Find me a cloak, quickly! Please!" Elsa told him.

"Yes, Your Majesty," he said, running back to the castle to get a cloak.

Elsa waited at the edge of the docks while Hans swam toward her. To ensure she wouldn't lose control, she did some deep breathing exercises to keep her anxiety low. Right as Hans was a few feet away from the dock, Erik came back with a cloak.

"Thank you," Elsa said, hastily. Putting out a hand over the water, Hans grabbed it and climbed back onto the dock.

Throwing the cloak over him, Elsa began to question him fervently. "Hans, you crazy idiot! What were you thinking?!"

"I… couldn't… leave.. without… telling you," he said, breathlessly.

"Tell me what?" Elsa asked, still shocked.

"I love you," he said.

Elsa looked at him, surprised. "Wait, what?"

"I love you, Elsa. I am insanely in love with you. I can't imagine living without you and I don't want to. I know my past with you isn't spotless and there are probably a million other people who are better than me but I will spend the rest of my life proving to you that I have changed for the better and I will do everything in my power to prove that I can be good for you. And I know you said that you can't focus on anything romantic right now and I know you only just see me as a friend but I just needed you to know. If you don't feel the same, fine. Just tell me and I'll return to the Southern Isles and you'll only hear from me as a friend (unless you never want to hear from me again). But if you do feel the same, just tell me to stay and I promise I will prove my worth to you. As a best friend and a lover. Please."

Elsa looked into his green eyes and knew that no matter what she said, she wanted him and only him. She loved him and she wasn't about to let him go anytime soon. Realizing that she wouldn't be able to find the words to describe her feelings, though, she did the only reasonable thing: she kissed him.

She threw her arms around his neck held him tightly as he wrapped his arms around her waist just as tight. She didn't care what anybody thought anymore. Their past would forever be erased; he had her trust and her heart and she knew she had his. He was her best friend and soul mate. And he had proved himself more than once since he had returned to Arendelle and she knew that his love for her was as real as hers was for him. They were together now, and no one would take him away from her.

When she finally pulled away, a smile immediately formed on her lips. "Stay," was all Elsa said. Hans smiled and kissed her again, this time quick but sweet nonetheless.

As he pulled away, Elsa looked to her advisor. "Erik, will you do me a favor?"

"Of course, Your Majesty."

"Take a boat out to the Southern Isles ship. Tell them that Queen Elsa requests that Prince Hans stays in Arendelle a while longer. If they accept, please be sure to grab his trunk of things and bring them back with you to the castle. You can take someone with you to help you."

"Yes, Your Majesty," he said, calling over another servant who had remained behind. As Erik took off towards the Southern Isles ship, Elsa wrapped an arm around Hans' waist as he placed his arm over shoulders and the two walked side-by-side back into the castle with Anna and Kristoff following them with smiles on all of their faces.


	22. Chapter 21

_**AN: Yay, new chapter! Kind of a filler chapter but I think it's cute nonetheless. So I hope you guys enjoy and have a great week!**_

_**Tallyho!**_

**Chapter 21:**

Shortly after Elsa told Hans to stay, Anna and Kristoff left for their honeymoon; which gave Hans and Elsa quite a lot of time to themselves when they weren't doing their respective duties. Hans picked up back where he left off in the Arendellian navy and continued to live in his small cottage. Now that his relationships with his brothers were improving, he was sending them and his parents letters every week, telling them of his new life in Arendelle and in return, hearing of his brothers' lives in the Southern Isles.

When he and Elsa were spending time together, their activities always varied so there was never a dull moment between them. Some evenings, they would go for walks around the town or the palace gardens; other nights they would stay in Elsa's study and play chess, tell stories, or even just read. Occasionally, Olaf would join them and keep them entertained. Some nights, after their walks they would escape to Hans' cottage for some privacy. Although they enjoyed their alone time, they hadn't gone that far in the case of intimacy. It wasn't that Hans wasn't too experienced, he just respected and loved Elsa too much to push her that far.

One night, Hans joined Elsa in her study, expecting an evening of playing chess and being entertained by Olaf but was surprised to find the Snow Queen at her desk, one hand running through her hair while the other was scrawling quickly on a piece of paper, with a pile of books and papers scattered around her. Olaf was watching the fire which told Hans that Elsa was either really distracted or Olaf was still fascinated by heat. He assumed it was the former, although he wouldn't be surprised if the latter were true too.

He walked over to where Elsa was but she didn't look up when he approached her. Walking behind her, he put his hands on her shoulders and kissed the top of her head.

"Hey." he said softly.

"Mmm." she replied.

"Watcha doin'?" he asked as he looked at the mass of documents that laid in front of her.

"Stuff." she said as her brow furrowed in frustration.

"What kind of stuff?" he asked patiently.

"Stupid queen stuff that should've been taken care of weeks ago but my Council is stupid and tried to handle it on their own. And now, I'm scrambling to fix their mistakes." she said throwing her pen down and groaning as she put her head in her hands. Hans began to rub her shoulders and Olaf waddled over and sat in a chair on the other side of Elsa's desk.

"What happened?" Olaf asked.

Not removing her head from her hands, Elsa spoke loud enough that both could still hear her. "Unbeknownst to myself, there's apparently been a job shortage in Arendelle for a few months. My Council thought that the library would create more jobs for the people but it didn't create enough so now we're in a job crisis and _I_ now have to find a way to create more jobs for my people instead of my Council because they screwed up with the library."

Hans noticed a chill enter the room and started to see white flakes falling from the ceiling. Kissing the nape of her neck, he whispered into her ear, "My love, I know that you're upset, but I just thought that you should know that you're making it snow."

Elsa sighed and lifted her head and put her hands on Hans' who was still massaging her shoulders. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and all the snow that had been forming, vanished. Opening her eyes, she leaned back into Hans. "I don't know what I'm more angry about: the fact that my Council didn't tell me what was going on or that I can't fire them for incompetence."

Hans rubbed his hands along Elsa's arms as Olaf asked, "So what are you going to do?"

She sighed. "I don't know. That's why all these papers and books are here. I'm looking for something that will benefit the economy _and_ provide quite a few jobs for my people."

"That's easy," Hans said without thinking, "build a University."

Elsa froze and Olaf's eyes widened with awe. Hans stopped rubbing Elsa's arms and looked at both of them confused and worried that he had said the wrong thing. Before he could even ask, Elsa jumped out of her chair and ran to one of the bookshelves. Skimming quickly through the titles, she grabbed one and opened it and began reading fervently. As she continued through the book a smile began to grow on her face until it filled her face. She looked up and squealed with joy and hugged the book to herself.

"Hans, you crazy genius, I could kiss you!" she said, almost skipping back to her desk.

Hans pretended to look around and then opened his arms saying, "What's stopping you?"

She laughed as she pulled him into a deep kiss. When they pulled back, Elsa smiled.

"Have I told you that I love you today?" she asked, jokingly.

Hans mock thought about it. "Yes, I do believe that you said it this morning. But it's always nice to hear." he winked.

"Well, I love you. Again." she smiled and kissed him once more.

"I love you more." he whispered against her lips. She rolled her eyes.

Olaf understood that he should give them a moment so he wandered off and became fascinated by a painting of Elsa's father on the wall. When he heard Elsa talking again, he knew it was safe to return to the desk. Elsa was bent over the book with Hans looking on over her shoulder. Elsa was smiling as she shared her discoveries with Hans and Olaf.

"Look at the statistics from other kingdoms that have built universities! Not only did their economies soar and more jobs were created but it advanced those kingdoms tenfold! They became some of the greatest kingdoms of their age! Imagine what Arendelle could become if we did that! You're freaking brilliant, Hans! This is exactly what we need!"

Sitting back down at her desk, Elsa pulled out a piece of paper and began writing fervently. Although they had both seen each other in a war and friendly environment, neither had seen each other when they were focused on work until now. When Hans was working with the navy, he was in a zone that could only be broken either at the end of the day when work was over or if something really interesting was going on around him. Elsa found it fascinating to see him in his "work zone" as he called it. He seemed to be a different person; more focused and careful with his movements than he was during anything else that he did. Even more so than during the war.

As for Elsa, when she was in her "work zone" she almost had different personalities. When she was with the Council, she was serious and had an intimidating demeanor about her whereas, when she was working with the citizens, her advisor, Captain of the Guard, or even Hans, she seemed more relaxed. She smiled more often and seemed much more approachable.

He had never seen her so passionate or excited about something before though. It was clear that the University idea had been a good one because this time when Elsa was scrambling to write something down, it was out of excitement instead of frustration. He usually didn't get to help her with anything relating to the kingdom so he was happy that he got to contribute in some form with the University. When Elsa was done, she rolled up the document and sealed it with the Arendellian wax seal.

Then she handed it to Olaf. "Olaf, will you do me a favor and take this to Erik please? He'll probably be in the servants quarters. Tell him it doesn't need to be delivered to the Council until the morning and that if he has any questions, to come to me in the morning."

"Sure!" Olaf said excited that he was given a special task.

"Thank you, Olaf!" Elsa said. "Good night!"

"Night guys!" Olaf said running out of the study to find Erik.

Elsa stood up and hugged Hans. He hugged her back and nuzzled his face into her hair.

"So you're going to bed?" he asked, voice muffled by her hair but she heard him anyway.

She pulled back and looked at him. "I was thinking about it." she said quietly. "But I was wondering if you wanted to come with me?"

Hans' brows furrowed. "What, like stay here? For the night?"

She nodded. "Isn't that… sort of scandalous?" he asked still surprised at her offer.

Elsa rolled her eyes. "Please, everyone already knows that the youngest Prince of the Southern Isles is courting the Snow Queen of Arendelle. Might as well give them something to talk about." she winked.

Getting the message, Hans followed her as she led him through the castle (careful to avoid any of the staff) to her room. When they entered her room, she locked the door and smiled at him mischievously. He smirked as he walked towards her and began to kiss her. At first it was tender but it quickly deepened. Soon, both were holding onto each other as tight as they could, refusing to let go. The kiss was full of the passion that lied within them; they wanted, no _needed_, each other more than ever in that moment. Everything and anything that was troubling either of them was erased as they lost themselves in the kiss.

Elsa began to unbutton Hans' shirt but he grabbed her wrists, stopping her. Pulling out of the kiss, he rested his forehead against hers as they gathered their breaths. "Are you sure about this, Elsa?" Hans asked her in between breaths.

Elsa sighed before resting her hands on his chest. "Hans, if there is anything in this world that I'm sure about, it's you. I trust you and there's no one else that I'd rather do this with than you. So, yes, I'm sure about this."

Hans smiled and kissed her tenderly. "I love you." he whispered against her lips.

"And I love you." she whispered back before kissing him passionately again. That became the first night of many that they would spend together and wake up entangled in the sheets of her bed and with each other. In order to avoid the staff, in the evenings, they would wait until they knew that most, if not all of them, would be downstairs in the servant's quarters so they could wander around freely and get to her room easily. The mornings were a bit more tricky but they were able to work it out. Hans would either sneak out before dawn and return to his cottage or he would sneak off to a different room of the castle and mess up the bed to suggest that Hans had crashed there the night before. Both knew that the staff was probably catching on to what was going on but they didn't care. It didn't matter if the whole town knew that Hans and Elsa were a thing, just as long as what happened behind closed doors stayed between them.

Their sneaking around became trickier when Anna and Kristoff returned from their honeymoon, however. As soon as both had returned, they immediately noticed a change in Elsa and Hans. When the newlyweds left, the couple had only been just developing their relationship. When they returned, it was as if they had been dating for years! The two understood each other's actions, facial expressions, and were even communicating with their eyes. Hans seemed to smile brighter whenever Elsa was in the room and there was a twinkle in her eyes whenever they were together. Both laughed a lot more and both seemed to be happier than ever. Anna was glad that her sister was happy, but she was suspicious as to what had happened between them while she and Kristoff had been away.

Then one night, it clicked. It hadn't been any big revelation, it was just something that she noticed that she hadn't seen before. Hans was much gentler when he touched Elsa; not that he wasn't gentle when he touched her before but this was different. He would run his fingers along her arms until he reached her hands and would trace the lines on her palm as if trying to memorize them. Whenever he would push a hair out of her face, he always did it with such grace, it was if he was trying to paint a portrait. It was with these small and gentle gestures that Anna saw how much Hans truly loved her sister. And she couldn't be happier that the man she once thought was incapable of love, found it with the woman who needed it most.


	23. Chapter 22

_**AN:**__**Hello lovelies! So short chapter alert but I hope you guys like it nonetheless. Some cute stuff is coming up! Hope you guys have a wonderful week!**_

_**Tallyho!**_

**Chapter 22:**

It was a beautiful November morning. The sky was overcast, there was frost on the windows, and a light snow had begun to fall outside, and Anna had thrown up for the third time that week. Hans was working with the navy while Kristoff was up at the North Mountain so that left Elsa to care for her sister without any distractions. Elsa was confused as to what could be making her sister so sick as she hadn't eaten anything different that would give her food poisoning; plus food poisoning wouldn't make her throw up three times in one week.

"That's it Anna," Elsa said giving her sister a glass of water, "I'm calling a doctor."

"No, really, Elsa I'm fine!"

"Anna this is the third time this week that you've thrown up. _Something _is wrong."

"I promise nothing's wrong. It's- it's just… ugh." Anna almost fell over as another wave of nausea hit when she stood up. Elsa caught her before she hit the ground and led her to the bed where she could lay down. Grabbing a warm cloth she laid it across Anna's forehead and then sat down next to her. "If you're not sick then wha- oh my gosh. You're pregnant aren't you?!"

"Shh!" Anna said. "Keep your voice down!"

"Anna, both of the guys are gone, no one's going to hear me!"

"The staff might hear you."

Elsa rolled her eyes. "Back to the point: how long have you known? How far are you?"

"Around four months, I think."

Elsa squealed with joy. "I'm gonna be an aunt! I can't believe it! Does Kristoff know?"

"Not yet."

"You better tell him soon before he starts to notice a change."

Anna sighed and looked out the window.

"What's wrong?" Elsa asked.

Anna shook her head. "How do I know that I'm ready for this? How do I know that _Kristoff_ is ready for this?"

Elsa smiled and chuckled. "That's the beauty of parenthood, I guess. You're never really ready for it until it smacks you in the face. I mean, come on, do you think Mama and Papa were prepared for me? Even without my powers, I was a handful! By the time you came along, they thought they were experts… until they discovered how both of us were together." Anna chuckled.

"You'll be fine, Anna." Elsa said, as she kissed her forehead. "You and Kristoff are going to be great parents. I can feel it."

Her sister smiled. "Thanks Elsa."

The sisters spent the rest of the morning talking about baby names and who would have the better reaction, Kristoff or Olaf. At noon, one of the maids went to tell the sisters that Kristoff had returned for luncheon. It was then that Anna decided she would tell her husband the news.

As the sisters and Kristoff sat down for lunch they began to talk about their days.

"So what did you two do today?" Kristoff asked.

"Oh, you know, the usual." Anna replied as she made activities up. "Walked around the castle, read a few books, I'm pregnant, beat Elsa at chess-" Kristoff's fork had clattered to the floor as he looked at his wife dumbstruck while Elsa tried to control her laughter.

"W-what was that?" Kristoff stuttered.

"I beat Elsa at chess?" Anna said trying to act normal.

"N-no, before that…" Kristoff said. "You said you were… p-pregnant…"

Anna glanced at Elsa before looking back at her husband. "Surprise!"

Kristoff's face quickly changed from a look of surprise to glee. He jumped out of his seat and ran to Anna and picked her up as he spun her in the air before pulling her into a bear hug. Elsa stood up and walked over to the couple to congratulate them. It was all smiles until Kristoff had a realization. "Uh oh." he said.

"What?" Anna asked.

"I just realized that now we have to tell everyone else, don't we?"

"And your family!" Anna added.

Elsa laughed as Kristoff huffed in exasperation. "You two have fun with that! I have a country to run. I'll catch you later." she called as she walked out of the dining room to finish some work she had to do in her study. As Elsa would be buried in paperwork for the rest of the day and Hans would be training with his comrades, Kristoff took the rest of the day off to spend with Anna as they discussed their future child.

.

.

.

The news of Anna's pregnancy spread like wildfire! In one week, the entire kingdom knew she was expecting; in one month, all the surrounding kingdoms knew. People began to talk and ask questions as to whether or not the princess' child would be the heir to the Arendelle throne considering Elsa had yet to marry. And it wasn't just the townspeople who were asking that question; Elsa's council was beginning to wonder as well. And the Snow Queen was not pleased when they brought it up to her.

"Why is it such a big deal that I marry anyway?" she asked, exasperated.

"Your Majesty, Princess Anna's news is wonderful but we were wondering if you were planning on producing an heir to the throne?"

"You make me sound like an animal. 'Produce an heir to the throne,' I'm the Snow Queen of Arendelle. I can animate snowmen with my hands, freeze an entire fjord with one step, and create a blizzard with the flick of my wrist and you're concerned about me having a child? Seriously? Isn't there a country with starving children that we should be worrying about?"

"Your Majesty, please." one council member said. "This is important, not just to us, but to the people of Arendelle and other kingdoms. While your future niece or nephew could be a great heir and ruler, most people believe that the child of the _queen_ would be an even greater heir and ruler. But you would need to marry first, of course."

Elsa leaned back in her chair and sighed as she rubbed her eyes. She realized that her council wouldn't budge on their move which means she would have to marry and eventually have a kid. Elsa hated it but gave in anyway. "Give me a month." she said looking at her council. "That way I have time to think about who I would like to marry. If I don't have a choice by the end of the month, you have my permission to find one for me _but _I make the final call. Deal?"

"Deal." her council agreed.


	24. Chapter 23

_**AN: Hello lovelies! Busy week ahead, but I'm so excited because I'm going to see Kings of Leon on Friday and then Wicked on Saturday! It's gonna be the best upcoming weekend ever! I'm so pumped! Anyway, another short chapter here (they seem much longer when I'm writing them...). Thank you guys for the wonderful reviews, you guys are always so sweet and encouraging! I hope you enjoy this chapter!**_

_**Tallyho!**_

**Chapter 23:**

Elsa had done everything she could to avoid finding a man to marry because, honestly, there was only one man she wanted to marry but she wasn't sure he was the marrying kind. Plus she also wasn't sure how her people would react. Sure, they liked him but that was just as a Commander in the Arendellian navy; there was no way to anticipate how they would like him as their king.

But Elsa was running out of time. She wanted to tear her hair out in her last meeting with her council because the majority of the time they talked about whether or not Elsa had picked someone to marry. It took everything in her not to turn the table into a popsicle while trying to change the subject. Realizing her predicament, however, she went to her sister for advice.

"Why don't you just ask Hans?" her sister asked.

"I've thought about it but I don't think he's the marrying kind. And what if it scares him off?"

"He fought in the war on the front lines, almost faced his death in court, and is in love with the Snow Queen and yet, you think he's going to be scared off by a marriage proposal?"

Elsa shrugged. "You never know. Like you said, I'm the Snow Queen but I'm still scared of mice."

Anna looked at her incredulously. "Look, even if Hans doesn't like the idea of marriage, I doubt he's going to sit back and watch you marry someone else. Plus, you two have been together for over a year now. I'm sure he'll be more than happy to marry you."

Elsa figured her sister was right. She and Hans loved each other more than anything and he had been practically living in the castle for months considering he spent almost every night with Elsa unless he had something to do in the morning with the navy. So why didn't they just make official already? Elsa decided that she would stop beating around the bush and just talk to Hans about it. She just had to do it right.

She and Hans were in her study that night. Anna had gone to bed early and Kristoff had followed shortly after and Olaf was spending time with Sven so that left Elsa and Hans alone together. Hans was practicing chess while Elsa was in one of her favorite chairs reading a book. Taking a deep breath, Elsa asked her burning question.

"Hans?"

"Hmm?" he replied distracted.

"Will you marry me?"

She heard a chess piece fall over on the board. She imagined Hans was in the middle of making a move and he dropped the piece when Elsa asked him the question. She heard shuffling as Hans came over to her and crouched in front of her. She had expected him to look shocked or speechless; instead he just smiled softly and stroked Elsa's cheek. She leaned her face into his hand as she smiled back at him.

"Why do you want to marry me, Elsa?" he asked softly.

Elsa chuckled. "Because my council is basically forcing me to choose a husband. And because if I have to choose someone to marry, there is no one else in this world that I would choose to spend the rest of my life with except you. So what do you say? Will you marry me, Prince Hans?" She leaned forward until their faces were inches apart from each other.

Hans smiled. "Are you sure about this? I'm not an easy person to live with."

She snorted. "And you think I am? I'm the freaking Snow Queen!"

He laughed. "Very true. Alright. But if we're going to do this, we're going to do it right." Getting down on one knee he pulled out a small ring from his pocket. It was white gold with diamonds along the band leading up to a beautiful sapphire in the middle. Elsa gasped when she saw the ring.

"It was my mother's." Hans said. "She sent it to me in her last letter in case and I quote I 'get off my butt and ask you to marry me before someone else beats me to it.' So here's me doing just that. Queen Elsa of Arendelle, you light up every room that you walk into. You have a heart of gold and an old soul. You are brilliant, beautiful, and everything I wish that I could be as a person. You bring out the best in me. You saved my life on multiple occasions and I will forever be grateful for that. It's because of you that I am alive today and that I'm changed for the better. I love you so much and I will for the rest of my life. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

Elsa was grinning. She was still smiling as she kissed Hans who was smiling as well. Pulling back for a quick moment, Elsa whispered "Yes" before kissing him again. Somehow between all the kisses and whispered "I love yous" Hans put the ring on Elsa's finger. Eventually, they ended up in Elsa's room and spent the evening together knowing that they would get to have evenings together for the rest of their lives.

_**AN: P.S. I mentioned that Elsa is afraid of mice because Idina Menzel is afraid of mice! Thought I'd throw a bit of the actress into the character! Hope you enjoyed it!**_


	25. Chapter 24

_**AN: Hello lovelies! Sorry for the delay in the update, this weekend was so much fun but super busy! If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend that you go see Wicked! It was absolutely amazing! I want to see it again! Anyway, I hope you guys have a good Monday and week! **_

_**Tallyho!**_

**Chapter 24:**

The next morning, Elsa arranged a meeting with her council to announce her news. Despite some councilmembers being surprised at who she had picked, all of them were just happy that their queen was getting married. It wasn't until after her meeting that she realized she would have to send out invitations and actually start planning the wedding. She groaned internally but was thankful that she wouldn't have to do the planning alone. She decided though that she wanted the wedding after Anna and Kristoff's baby was born. She wanted to be sure that her sister wasn't forgotten in the commotion the biggest royal wedding since her parents. Plus, she secretly hoped that her future niece or nephew would be able to be a part of the wedding.

As the months passed and the wedding planning began so did preparations for the new baby. The sex of the baby hadn't been identified but people were starting to make guesses. Hans tried to get people to bet on it but dropped the subject when Elsa threatened to shave off his sideburns (which he happened to be very fond of).

In order to keep everything gender neutral, the nursery had been decorated in a pale yellow. Anna and Elsa hoped the baby would be a girl, Hans hoped it would be a boy, and Kristoff and Olaf just hoped that the baby would healthy. As Anna's due date drew closer, Kristoff began to spend more and more time in the town library reading up on every parenting book he could get his hands on. He was more nervous than anyone else was and it was eating him up inside. One evening, in Elsa's study, he expressed his fears to her after Anna had gone to bed.

"How the hell am I supposed to be a father?!" he exclaimed. "I've only been around ice harvesters and trolls for my entire life, I have _zero_ experience with kids, let alone babies! And troll babies don't count! And how am I supposed to be a _good_ father?! How am I supposed to know when to protect them and when to let them learn on their own? What if they hate me? What if I hurt the baby when trying to hold it? What if-."

"KRISTOFF!" Elsa said. He looked at her, wide-eyed. Elsa could see the fear and anxiety in his eyes. Walking over to her brother-in-law, she pulled his face towards her so he was looking directly at her. "Sit down." she said sternly. He complied. "Now close your eyes." He did. "Now I want you to focus on your breathing. Don't do anything else, just breathe. Now I want you to clear your mind. Think of something that relaxes you: ice, for instance. I want you to continue thinking about whatever it is that makes you relaxed. When you're ready, open your eyes."

It was a few more minutes before Kristoff opened his eyes but Elsa remained patient with him. When he finally opened his eyes, Elsa smiled at him. "How do you feel?"

Kristoff gave her a small smile. "Better, actually."

"Good." She bent down so she would be eye level with him. "You are going to be a great father. Don't worry about not being good enough or them hating you. He or she will love you because you have a huge heart and you're a good and caring person. So the only experience you've had with kids are trolls, who cares? I can promise you, as soon as you hold your baby in your arms for the first time, it won't matter. Everything will come to you naturally, I promise."

The prince grinned at his sister-in-law and stood up while picking Elsa up and giving her a bear hug. Elsa laughed with Kristoff, happy that her relaxation method worked on him. The Snow Queen cherished these moments she had with Kristoff. Although they were close, they didn't get to bond as often as they'd like because they'd each be busy with their respective duties, so Elsa was happy that she could help Kristoff with something and he was happy that he had come to Elsa for help because she always knew the right thing to say. The two spent the next hour talking as Elsa crushed him in a game of chess before both going off to bed. As Kristoff wrapped his arms around his beautiful wife that night, he smiled as he felt a kick coming from Anna's stomach. He thought about what Elsa said and knew that she was right. Before drifting off to sleep, he kissed Anna's head lightly and thought _I love you, little one_ to his baby that would soon join the world.

Anna was in pain; _a lot_ of pain. Her contractions had started around one in the morning but her water had only broke a little while ago (it was now a little after 7pm). A doctor and a midwife had been called in to help out the princess; Elsa and Kristoff were in the room with her too. Hans and Olaf were anxiously waiting outside.

"Come on, Anna, you're almost there!" Elsa encouraged her baby sister. It killed her to see Anna in so much pain. She only wished she could do more for her than just be in the room with her but she knew that this was something Anna could handle… hopefully.

"All right, princess, I need you to push for me, okay? Push!" the doctor said. Anna screamed as she complied. Elsa continued her words of encouragement while Kristoff kept apologizing to his wife in guilt of causing her pain.

"One more time!" the doctor said. Anna gave one last blood curdling scream as she gave it her all. Silence. Then the sound of a baby crying filled the room. Elsa and Kristoff heaved sighs of relief as Anna fell back on the bed, her breathing heavy but beginning to slow down. The midwife introduced the baby to Anna and Kristoff before walking away to clean him up. Elsa conjured up some snow to put on Anna's head to help her cool off as Kristoff kissed the top of her head.

As Elsa helped Anna sit up in bed, the midwife brought the baby back and placed him in his mother's arms. He was swaddled in a blue blanket, was the size of Kristoff's forearm, had his father's blonde hair but had Anna's eyes and, in Elsa's opinion, looked like a red potato. But he was cute nonetheless.

"Happy Birthday, Remy." Anna cooed.

Kristoff smiled at his son's name. Anna hadn't told him what she wanted to name the baby but he liked her choice. He waved his finger to his son and the baby grabbed it with both hands. Kristoff beamed at this gesture. When Anna handed him his son, Elsa could tell that he seemed uneasy about it but as soon as he got him in his arms, she could see that he was a natural.

All three looked up when they heard the door creak open. Hans and Olaf stuck their heads into the room asking for permission to come in. When Anna nodded, Olaf took off towards the bed and hopped up to get a better look at the baby who had been placed in Anna's arms again. His eyes widened as his smile filled up his face.

"Hi little baby." he cooed.

Hans came up behind Elsa and placed his hands on her shoulders. She leaned back against him as she relaxed. It had been a stressful 18 hours but it was worth it. Anna was okay and so was the baby. That was all that mattered.

"Do you wanna hold him?" Anna asked her.

Elsa looked at Anna skeptically and with a little bit of fear. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

Her sister smiled at her. "Come on, Elsa, he's your nephew. You're gonna have to hold him eventually. Might as well get a head start."

Elsa swallowed nervously but nodded. She felt uneasy as Anna handed her the baby but as soon as he was in her arms she fell in love. His eyes were open and taking in his surroundings but as soon as he saw Elsa he gave her a toothless smile in which Elsa returned but with teeth. She looked up at Hans to see he was smiling too. Looking into his eyes, she could see that he loved little Remy already and wondered if he ever wanted kids in the future. Elsa had thought about it briefly once but, if she was being honest with herself, she was scared that her child(ren) would be born with snow powers as well and she wasn't sure she would be able to do a good job on how to teach them to use their powers for good. She pushed the thought out of her mind for now deciding that was a conversation for another day. Looking back at the baby, Hans bent over her and smiled at the little prince.

"What's his name?" Hans asked Anna.

"Remy. Remy Alexander Bjorgman." She replied proudly. Elsa's head perked up when her said her nephew's middle name.

"Alexander?" she asked choked up. "You named him after Papa?"

Anna smiled and nodded. Tears began forming in Elsa's eyes as she looked back at her nephew. "Papa would've loved you." she whispered as a tear fell down her face. Normally when she cried, it would begin to snow and then it would freeze in midair as if time stopped. Not this time, though. Elsa was crying out of love and happiness which counteracted her powers and stopped it from snowing.

Wiping away her tears, she handed Remy back to Anna so both could rest as she and Hans left to play their nightly game of chess and Olaf wandered off to visit Sven in the stables. As they walked to Elsa's study, Hans asked "So what do you think of your new nephew?"

"He's pretty cute. I think we'll keep him." she winked. Hans chuckled and kissed her head and secretly hoped that one day they may be able to have their own kids someday. But for now he was happy with just Elsa.


End file.
